The gaffer looks ahead to the weekend and the challenge of the high-flying R's.
PLAYER AVAILABILITY
“It’s unlikely that anyone will return, but perhaps Jasper Moon and Matty Wolfe have a chance. We are looking at Coventry City for such as Callum Brittain.
“Clarke Oduor is a little bit further back, and we are still waiting for clarity on Victor Adeboyejo.
“On Cauley Woodrow we are looking at April, but it’s difficult to say right now. We’d like it to be sooner, of course.”
ERRORS RECENTLY
“We’ve been unfortunate to make so many mistakes in recent games.
“But we aren’t going to point fingers at individuals.
“In these situations, we don’t want anyone to hide. It’s about trying to improve both on the training ground and in the games.”
CLEAR FOCUS
“In terms of the situation, you can’t focus too much on what has been and gone. We quickly move onto the next game and that’s QPR this weekend.
“It’s always, as a coach, and as a player, to focus on the next action.
“My thoughts are only on that and the things I can affect.”
ON CRITICISM
“I didn’t come here not wanting to win football games.
“But everyone knows it was a pretty special situation I was coming into.
“The injuries, the COVID cases and the team were losing every week. But of course I expected better results.
“I respect everyone’s opinion. I really do. I might be young, but I’ve been an elite coach for long enough to know what to expect. I understand the criticism.
“But I think the fans would rather I focus on being a coach, not focus on people’s opinions.”
REMAINING POSITIVE
“We can’t give in. Because things can change quickly in football.
“Look at Cardiff. They came here and were talked about as being in the battle, but they’ve won three in a row and now everyone says they’re safe.”
ON QPR
“I think the capacity is there in our squad.
“We’ve watched that performance at QPR in August, and you could see the confidence in a lot of these players.
“I think game by game, with each defeat, the confidence is lacking. That’s natural. They’re young players too. But that’s my job, it’s my responsibility to lift them and to put them onto the pitch in a way that we can find the confidence to show everyone what they’re capable of.
“They’re a good footballing team. So it’s a little different for us. Because we’ve been playing against a lot of direct sides recently.
“A different approach in front of us, but it should be a good football game and we are very confident that we can get a good result.”
