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Club News

'We've got a chance at Arsenal'

22 January 2014

Club News

'We've got a chance at Arsenal'

22 January 2014

Coventry City boss Steven Pressley wants his side to study on the finest details ahead of the trip to Arsenal...

When a League One club face a trip to the Premier League leaders, you might expect the underdogs to be slightly daunted by the prospect. 

However, Coventry City manager Steven Pressley hoping to use the romance of the FA Cup to pull off what would be an incredible result against the Gunners in the fourth round on Friday night. 

Arsene Wenger's side are currently top of the Premier League, having won their last five matches and only lost three matches in the league this season. 

City travelled to the Emirates last season, where they suffered a 6-1 defeat, with a completely different squad as only six out of the 16 players in the match-day squad that day are still at the club.

Whilst the City boss concedes luck will be a major factor in whether they can pull off a major FA Cup shock, he has refused to rule it out.   

Pressley said: "We've had some very good training sessions and had our analysis meeting on how we are going to play against Arsenal. It is going very well and we are going to continue to work towards it throughout the week.

"We've been training with 11 v 12 exercises to train on how to cope with the overload of their players and we are going to have to make sure we do everything right if we are going to have a chance.

"Arsenal have great ball retention and we are working very hard on how to cope with that. It is going to take an incredible performance and our players have to play to the absolute detail to get a result.

"We are going to need an element of luck as well. If all those factors come together, you never know. Any result can happen and that is why we love football."

There are certain reasons for optimism for the Sky Blues as City have scored 65 goals in all competitions this season, whilst Arsenal have only managed to net 59 goals.

Pressley's side have only lost one game in the last 11 matches in all competitions, with the side currently eight points outside the play-offs despite starting the season with a ten-point deduction.

Whilst the Gunners might choose to rest certain players for the Cup tie, Pressley believes that won't change the difficulty of the tie.

He added: "The one thing about Arsene Wenger is he has never compromised his style of play, and it is a style which a lot of managers in football envy.

"They have got players which can make the difference at any moment but they all fit into the system they implement and it is the philosophy we will be playing against, not just the players. 

"We have to be very careful not to let them play in between our lines and we have worked very hard on that. I wouldn't ask my team to turn up on the night if I didn't think there is a chance we could win the game."


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