COMPLACENCY JUST DRIVES ME WILDER!
Boro boss has no time for anyone saying Preston will make it easy
IAN MURTAGH
CHRIS WILDER gives short shrift to anyone suggesting his Middlesbrough side will have it easy at mid-table Preston this lunchtime.
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The Boro chief insists he’s never bought into the theory that, just because a team is stuck in mid-table, they have “nothing left to play for.”
Preston, out of play-off contention and safe from relegation weeks ago, would appear to be the perfect opponent for a Boro side needing a win, and either Sheffield United or Luton to slip up, for a top-six finish.
But Wilder said: “What a load of rubbish. They are professional footballers who have got to that position by wanting to win games. I’ve heard it said there is no pressure on Preston but is that good or bad?
“Everyone is wanting me to say something stupid or come out with a ridiculous statement and, if I did, someone would put it on the changing-room wall and say: ‘Look at this idiot and read what he is saying.’
“It acts as the perfect motivation. I know because I’ve been doing that for the past 20 years.”
Wilder admits he’d rather be in sixth place going into the last day of the regular campaign knowing three points guarantees a play-off place given Boro could miss out even if they notch a third successive win. But he’s not one for psychological games in situations like this.
“There are a thousand ways you can look at the game,” he added. “Do Preston play with a freedom because there’s no pressure? Have they been on the lash for three days?
“I can’t decide that or look into a crystal ball and predict.
“But I have been involved with a team that has possibly been drunk for two weeks and still managed to get the results they wanted.
“Is our fight bigger than theirs? Obviously. But there are many different ways you can view it and ultimately it’s about what happens on Saturday.”