Head Coach looks ahead to a trip to the Welsh capital this weekend.
First of all, Struber updated us on the health of his side.
“All the players are fit,” Struber said. “We hope we can go there with a good squad. Every player has a good chance to play, including the ones who haven’t been in the team. The last game was a great performance from the team so now it is not so easy for others to get into the team, but everyone has the same chances.
“Mallik Wilks is the only problem, he has been ill for a few days but he is now back in training. I think this weekend is maybe too early for him, but we will need him in the next games.”
Struber and his new-look coaching staff including Max Senft and Matt Rose have had their first full week in training with the players, since joining the club. After beating Hull City so convincingly at the weekend, the Head Coach said he has seen more ‘self-confidence’ and ‘belief’ within his players.
“Yes, this was my first full week with the players. We have had a long week together, we spent a lot of time on positioning and I think it’s getting better and better in moments we are on the ball. That’s been the benefit of this week, we’ve had more time and we won the last game so the self confidence is higher. It’s always better when we have a good result and good performance. We have a good feeling for our next tasks and more self-confidence.
Struber continued: “It is an important time for the players and the staff together. They can show me how they perform under high pressure. I hope the next games ad weeks we have also good results like our game against Hull, I hope our performances increase steadily and we concentrate in our games, playing with a big heart.”
Onto the task at hand, the squad will depart for the Welsh capital on Friday afternoon ahead of a tough fixture against a side that competed in the Premier League last season.
“It will be a very tough game.” Explained Struber. “I am happy we’re playing it, it’s a special game against a strong team. We’re expecting an opponent who have a lot of strengths, especially in their set-plays. They will try to break our game to stop us playing, but we have a good plan and I hope my players have a good amount of self-confidence to make our performances better.”
Saturday’s opponents have also recently changed their Head Coach, with the outgoing Neil Warnock being replaced by former Millwall boss, Neil Harris.
“It’s always a new situation when the trainer is a new one with new ideas from the old coach. I think the match plan from Cardiff is similar to the old coach, we must pay attention on their set-plays and focus on our positioning. When we can do this, we can create a good game and Cardiff may have some problems with us.”
