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Hughes has given his most honest assessment yet as he spoke to the
media following this afternoon’s FA Cup humbling at the hands of
Nottingham Forest.
City were beaten 3-0 by the Championship
strugglers and an unhappy Hughes said afterwards: “I won’t defend it
because it was indefensible. At the end of the day we’re playing a team
that’s struggling in a lower league than ourselves and we should make a
better fist of it than we did.
“They showed more desire,
physically they pushed themselves, ran around and forced errors. They
took their chances when they presented themselves. It was a great
strike for the first goal but in fairness they fully deserved the
victory. The manner of our performance was nowhere near the level of
where it needs to be.
“We were missing the creative spark of
Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips and obviously Stevie Ireland, that’s no
excuse the players on the field of play today should have made a better
fist of it than we were able to.
“Credit to Nottingham Forest
they really worked hard for each other and they could sense an upset
today. We got to be much better than we showed today.
“I think
people have to be honest and accept that today we didn’t perform. We’re
not good enough to be able to carry players when we play games,
irrespective of the opposition, if we’ve got three, four or five
players not at the level we know they’re capable of then it compromises
the team. That was evident today we had too many players nowhere near
that level and as a consequence we lost the game.
“I was
concerned with the collective showing of the team itself. Today,
without the shining lights of the season so far, Stevie Ireland,
Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips, we looked lacking. We’re honest in
that respect and I think we’ve possibly relied on those players too
much and allowed them to carry the team somewhat.
“We’re
obviously disappointed to go out of the FA Cup, it’s a fantastic
competition, as we all know. But where we are at this moment in time we
can’t compete on all fronts. We’ve got the UEFA Cup and important
league games ahead of us but maybe we’re just not in a position, given
the strength of the squad to be able to carry the fight on all fronts.
That’s an honest assessment at this moment in time I would suggest.”
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