Michael Appleton was out of the blocks to give his press conference before setting off for the much-anticipated visit to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland tomorrow.
Peterborough: MA was delighted with the players’ performance and attitude. On a difficult pitch, the players had the confidence to stick with the play even though an error cost ‘us’. ‘They kept doing it and doing it’ with MA arguing that Imps were on top even before the Dembele sending off and he felt that the winning goal was coming even before the excellent Grant free-kick.
Sunderland: With the number of games having been played and only having a small squad MA is maintaining the policy of looking after player recovery; especially with a few being sore and stiff after knocks in recent games. Consequently, there will only be a light training session on the way up to Sunderland today to break up the journey. MA is aware that there is a degree of unrest at Sunderland and whilst he would hope to take advantage of that he recognised that Phil Parkinson is used to dealing with clubs in such a situation (as evidenced by the remarkable job he did at Bolton) which MA can relate to through his own experiences earlier in his career. MA took the view that Sunderland are in a false position anyway and with their experienced players they will feel they can beat any team on any given day. Sunderland will feel they are in a false position and come the end of the season MA does not doubt that they will be challenging for the playoffs. Sunderland have a large squad to enable them to change formation and style and he knows how difficult a game it will be. MA is not bothered in the slightest if Sunderland have lots of possession. He explained that when he first came in Imps had a tendency to be comfortable to defend deep and the players have now met his early criterion of becoming resolute and harder to beat. As a result of the long break (around November) which MA treated as a mini pre-season, the players worked really hard. They are now showing the development of their play so that they are becoming comfortable in possession, not just resolute. He doesn’t think ‘we’ve cracked it’ as complacency gets a slap in the face. It is about the players maintaining the correct attitude. So going into Sunderland the players are in a good headspace, spirit and belief. MA will be relaxed about Sunderland having the ball provided Imps don’t give ‘them’ anything to get encouraged about; then it comes down to what the City players do with the ball. If ‘we’ counter-attack, make the right decisions and transitions then MA is hopeful of causing Sunderland problems. MA is aware that at this time of the year there are often funny results due to fatigue so it may be down to how both sets of players cope with that in the latter stages of the match.
Will The Imps win, lose or draw against Sunderland?
Win
Lose
Draw
Transfers: Zack Elbouzedi is 99%likely to have clearance to play. MA will have a look at him today and keep Sunderland waiting on his selection. He remains hopeful of having another player in to the building later today or over the next 24 hours which would be nice but it’s fine if there isn’t. Permanent signings can be difficult to complete in January but if they can be made it is useful to be able to work on moulding/shaping such players for six months with a view to the following season. MA will be ensuring ‘we’ have enough players for this season but also looking to better balance the squad ahead of next season. MA wants to improve that as when he first arrived he felt there were too many in one position that didn’t feel or look right.
Writer: hulloutpost
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MA: "The players know that we're always striving to be better.":https://t.co/DmJYbGLGvQ#SAFC #ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) January 3, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/2635634563139439
