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Looking back to last Monday’s draw with Newcastle, our performance was a big disappointment to me because when you are one-nil up , and playing against 10 men, you should go on to win the game. We had several chances to go further ahead in the first half but did not take them, and not taking those kinds of opportunities has a nasty habit of coming back to haunt you. Looking at it in the cold light of day, the sending off galvanised Newcastle and they punished us for not making the most of our numerical advantage. We conceded two poor goals, and though there was a touch of bad fortune over both of them we need to stop conceding sloppy goals.
Towards the end we were taking shots from 30-yards when we needed a bit of a calm head. We should have been trying to pick people off in wide areas, get good quality balls into the box and get in behind them, but we didn’t really do that until we got the equaliser. Having said that, we did get a point away from home and they are always hard to come by in the Premier League.
I said publically after the game at St James’ that I was demanding a reaction from the players in the light of that performance, and I have certainly seen that in some high-intensity training sessions this week. It’s vital that we are fully prepared for the challenge that Stoke will present us with today.
This is Stoke City’s first visit to the City of Manchester Stadium, and I would like to welcome their staff, players and supporters to today’s game. Tony Pulis has made the Potters a very difficult team to break down, and their win over Spurs last Sunday was thoroughly deserved and will have given them great heart going into this match. We know where their main threats will come from and we have to be ready to stand up for ourselves in what is certain to be a tough game.
We will be without Martin Petrov for a while now, his knee injury has been confirmed as a tear to the meniscus and although it is possibly not as bad as we first feared, being without a player of his experience is a blow to us. Martin is one of the older players in the squad and overall we are quite a young side, so having someone like him, who was a regular in the Premier League last season, was a real advantage when we started off in pre-season.
Martin’s absence, coupled with a couple of ongoing injuries we have, means that some of our younger players are going to have to step up to the plate over the next few weeks, which will be a busy period for us. Stephen Ireland has been consistently excellent throughout this season so far, and to get four from goals from a midfielder, like we have already had from him, has been a nice bonus. His fitness and stamina have improved, and he was exactly where he needed to be late on last Monday to grab the equaliser when he latched on to Robinho’s superb pass. Stephen would have scored a few minutes earlier had it not been for an outstanding save from Shay Given.
Micah gave us a bit of a scare when he was forced off during the second half of Monday night’s game with an injury, but an examination revealed it was strained ligaments and not broken bones. We’ve been monitoring him on a daily basis and he should be back soon, and I’m also pleased to report that both Benjani and Darius Vassell have been making good progress in their efforts to return to full fitness.
November will be a busy month with our first two UEFA Cup ties, at home to FC Twente and away to Schalke 04, now confirmed. But following this Wednesday’s game at Middlesbrough there are also six Premier League games coming up over the next four weeks, culminating in the derby on Sunday November 30th. When the fixtures came out we looked at this period as an opportunity to pick up points, so we have to make sure that we do that.
Today’s match is part of Kick It Out’s One Game One Community weeks of action. I am sure that we can count on all our fans to support the activities the club have organised around the stadium today to raise awareness of the One Game One Community message.
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