Yan demands Blues bounce back against City
YAN Valery has issued a rallying call to all concerned at Birmingham City ahead of a crucial showdown with Bristol City at St Andrew’s this coming weekend.
The Blues right back, brought in on loan from Premier League Southampton at the end of the January transfer window, made only his second start for the club in the damaging 1-0 defeat to high flying Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday.
That result rather undid the good work that Blues had done in recent weeks, having seen off relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday and having impressively come from behind to clinch all three points against Queens Park Rangers.
Yet in Yorkshire over the weekend it was a very poor showing where Blues failed to lay a glove on the Tykes and didn’t muster a single shot on target over the course of the game.
With Coventry City edging out Derby County, it’s left Blues on the brink of the bottom three once more and Rotherham, the side directly beneath Blues at this moment, are three points adrift but remarkably have three games in hand.
Young defender Valery admits that the showing against Barnsley was not good enough and Blues need to up their game when Nigel
Pearson leads the Robins to St Andrew’s.
“It’s not because we’ve lost one game now that we are going to put our heads down,” Valery said.
“We haven’t got the time to cry, or be sad.
“We’ve got to go and win the game against Bristol. That is it. “Everyone [is up for this battle]. Players on the pitch, players on the bench, players who don’t travel. Everyone is together, all the staff, everybody.
“We all want to stay in the Championship this season and we all know what we have to do. Everybody needs to be on the ball.”
Against Barnsley, Valery was disappointed with the collective effort from Blues to force the issue and get themselves back in the game.
Attentions have quickly turned to this coming weekend.
“After that goal we should’ve gone ‘okay, we have nothing to lose, let’s fight’. We didn’t do it. Now it’s done, we have to bounce back, watch the game, see our mistakes and what we can do better,” Valery added.
“We have to bounce back on Saturday. We have to win games now. We can’t just, when we concede a goal, leave it like that. We have to fight.”
VILLA goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has heaped praise on team-mates Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings, saying they are the ‘best two defenders in England’.
The Villa defence has tightened up considerably this season, with the addition of Martinez between the sticks. The former Arsenal stopper has kept 14 clean sheets in the Premier League so far, second only to league leaders Manchester City.
While Martinez has impressed with his performances for his new club, central defenders Konsa and Mings have also been praised for their defensive work in front of him.
“It’s been a pleasure to play behind them,” said Martinez. “I always thought they were top-class defenders.
“Last season we couldn’t show it and the team conceded so many goals, but one of the reasons I decided to come here was because I trusted them, and you can see how good they are.
“For me, they are the best two defenders in England. The way they block shots, the way they head the ball, the organisation and the communication, I haven’t seen them put a foot wrong in the whole season.
“It’s a massive relief for me when I have two big and quick guys like them in front of me. It makes my job a lot easier.”
While Mings has already established himself as a regular member of Gareth Southgate’s England squad, Konsa’s form has led to talk that he could also be called up for international duty ahead of this summer’s European Championships.
The Villa duo will hope to link up on the international stage as well as at club level before the end of the season.