Ahead of this weekend’s away fixture against Middlesbrough, Brian Barry-Murphy spoke to the press at CCS.
City head to Boro following Tuesday night’s terrific home win over Watford. Briefly reflecting on the performance, Brian’s focus quickly turns towards our next test on the road.
“Everybody was buzzing after the game and looking forward to what is going to be another challenge on Saturday,” Brian began. “So we’ve got to try our best as we try to win.
“Going there we have an incredible respect for how good Middlesbrough are, they could be in the Premier League and the level of their performances reflect that.
“We’re preparing incredibly hard today and tomorrow, but we don’t fear them; we’re not afraid of anything and we’ll go there and try and play in the same manner as Tuesday, albeit a different game, and try to win.”
Looking to convert positive performances into results away from home, Brian discussed the team’s desire for another three points to build on the midweek result, against a strong Middlesbrough outfit.
“I think we’ve had some good away performances,” he explained. “Derby County springs to mind, and we played well at Bolton but didn’t get the win then that we should’ve. Our home form has felt really good, and we have to try to rectify it away from home as soon as possible.
“We have to play better, playing away from home in any league is different. We have to adjust to that, show that we can improve and try to win.
“The support that we have at the club is never wavering, and we have to reflect that.
“The next game is all that matters for us. We treated Tuesday like it was the last game of the season, put everything into it in trying to win and we did. The same goes for Saturday, we want to go to Middlesbrough to compete.”
Brian also provided an injury update: “Rubin [Colwill] won’t be available for Saturday, we’ll assess Yousef [Salech] and see how he is, but he’s making good progress.
“It’s not going to be a return to playing soon for Calum [Chambers], he’s a long way away, but hopefully he’ll make steps in the week to week.”