How many players are available for tomorrow’s game against Chelsea?
Enough! We will put 11 players out there tomorrow. We are in a fine place, I guess there will come a few questions about the Covid situation so I can probably start there. We thought it was a good idea to postpone the weekend’s fixtures, six games were postponed with one last minute which is unfair on the fans. Clearly our opponents and [Thomas] Tuchel were quite unhappy with their game going on, so that could have been seven. We focussed on ourselves, that helped us massively because we closed our training ground. Having six/seven positive cases on Thursday to the next testing round [Saturday] with lateral flow and PCR tests, we only had one on Saturday. Zero Monday and today, so we are definitely in a fine place going into the game tomorrow.
Do you expect the atmosphere to be even better due to fans potentially not being allowed at games for a few weeks?
I’m not too worried what’s going to happen in the future, I can only think about what’s happening now in the moment and I hope the fans do that as well. I think if you do what you can to make sure that the next game is the most important game in your life as a fan and as a player. I think a quarter-final against Chelsea, local London derby, under the floodlights, it’s Christmas; what is not to like? We should go out there and attack and I hope the fans will be right behind us.
Ivan Toney hasn’t played for a while due to Covid. Tomorrow’s a great chance to get some game-time for him?
Yes, definitely. I think it’s a great opportunity to get game-time into a lot of players even that they were outrunning during the week where the training ground was closed. You could just see, it was only one week, so when we trained on Monday and of course big focus on getting that intensity and physicality back, and some are saying it’s quite tough! That just shows that consistency in training is important for everyone, so I think a lot of the players are looking forward to playing.
Does your league position give you a free hit tomorrow because you want to get to the semi-finals?
For us, we see it as a massive opportunity to go to the semi-finals. Last year, we did the same and that’s where we are fighting in a tough promotion battle and playing even more games than this year and more extreme circumstances than this year. Not a free hit, big opportunity.
How did you cope with the Covid outbreak as a coach and on a personal level?
I think every manager/head coach wants to play the best team, so we are always annoyed if there is an injury. It’s a hard flu, so in that case I’m not worried about getting it myself. I’ve already had it once, I’m double-jabbed and I got my booster on Saturday so can I get it again? Yes, because a lot of people get it again. You need to take decisions about that you want to play your best team and compete, and of course my caring for the staff and players if they’re OK.
