Lee Johnson has been chatting about this evening’s game against Hull City, which in essence could have a massive impact on our season. A win would propel us towards a play off position and give us confidence that we can beat the best in the league, as we did against Lincoln, but a defeat would leave us mid table licking our wounds.
“Hull are a very strong side. They’ve done a great job so far having come down last season, and they have energy and physicality. They’ve got options amongst their squad, and they tick a lot of League One and Championship boxes. You can see that in their game style that they’re very organised, difficult to break down and comfortable taking the ball. They can perform very well in a possession game, but they’re also very adept at conceding possession and hitting you on the counter-attack. You could look at it like a bit of a six-pointer with how tight the league is right now. I don’t want to bore people, but it is about what we do, and that we make sure we perform our game as best as possible to overcome the challenges Hull present. We’ve had a clean run at it, and we have to respect the challenge we face. They’re a good side, they’ll be looking at us thinking we’re a good side, and we need to make sure that the lads on standby are as ready as the starting players.”
Northampton disappointment
“I think Northampton was a really difficult game to assess for me. We had seven or eight starters that had suffered with Covid and only had a couple of days under their belts in terms of training, against a game style that wasn’t conducive to building rhythm. The ball was often out of play, and therefore we were found frustrated. Obviously, we have to adapt to those challenges and try and be better, but I felt we defended well and our organisational structure was good. In the big picture, we’re very aware we need to improve our forward play, and there are certainly no excuses from my point of view. The players have been in good form, and we will be able to field a strong side.”
New Covid rules
“New protocols have of course been put in place since lockdown was announced, with physical contact in and around the building having to be minimised. The boys train together outside, but they have to come into meetings and analysis sessions in two separate groups at separate times. But we can’t grumble, we have to be grateful that we’re still out there playing football with our mates during these times. The uncertainty is a challenge, but that’s where we need to strive to be the best we can possibly be in being fluid. Up until Tuesday afternoon, we didn’t know we’d be preparing for a game or which game we’d be preparing for, but we did make an educated guess that we would go ahead and face Hull, so the players are prepared and ready.”
