The Sky Blues boss wants the team to show the same mentality and desire they did last weekend to ensure victory over Walsall in the Midlands derby...
Coventry City manager Steven Pressley has urged his team to take their intensity and mentality from the Colchester game into the Midlands derby against Walsall.
The result meant that City have won three of their last six games, but Pressley has expressed an eagerness for the Sky Blues to build momentum and keep the winning mind-set against in-form Walsall in the derby, stressing that the win last week cannot be overestimated.
“Last weekend was a big win but it was only one win,” Pressley said.
“Winning isn’t just a sometime thing, it’s an all-time thing. We need to start winning regularly at this football club. We need to ensure last week is not a false dawn; we have trained so well this week again.
“There are no excuses, we must give a performance. It will be a test, while the pitch isn’t in the best condition you have to play the conditions. It will affect both teams as Walsall – like us – like to pass the ball.
“Walsall press very quickly and force you into mistakes. They do not lose many goals and have good organisation but we are relishing the challenge and if we have the strong mentality of last week we have a real chance of winning the game. It is a derby game and we cannot let our mentality slip at all. We have to give our all once again.”
The Sky Blues do have some injuries ahead of the game, in particular in defence where Jordan Willis, Seb Hines, Danny Pugh and Aaron Phillips are all ruled out.
The manager believes consistency in selection of the team is key to creating a good run and has stated the derby is a great place for the team to show the desire and intensity to the supporters.
Pressley said: “We thought we had a real opportunity, in particular with the back-four, for us to have a consistency in our selection. But that’s football and we have to deal with that.
“Last year when we had a golden period you knew the team every week and we had good continuity. We’re affected by injury problems at the back but we always have to find a way.
“As I said before, it is so vital to keep that mentality and desire because even with the circumstances, if we retain that we will have a great chance in the game. The players have trained so well and it’s a great chance to build momentum in front of our home supporters in the derby.”