We have to be ready to go again – Adkins
MANAGER Nigel Adkins has warned Hull City not to ease up in the push for Championship survival.
Thanks to a goal difference that is vastly superior to the bottom five, the Tigers are effectively seven points clear of the drop zone.
However, with back-to-back away games before the international break, at Ipswich Town tonight and then third-bottom Birmingham City on Saturday, Hull could easily be dragged back into the mire if their own results dip.
“The pressure isn’t off us – we have got to get ourselves ready to go again,” said Adkins, as he looks to improve the joint second-worst away record in the Championship with Hull having taken just 11 points from 17 outings.
“Listen, we have only won two games away from home in two years so we have got two games coming up that are both tough games.
“I told the players to enjoy the moment on Saturday (after beating Norwich), reflect on the performance, but then to draw a line and get ready for the next challenge.
“It is going to be tough down there. Mick McCarthy’s teams are always tough to beat. Can we go on and put in another good performance that gives us the opportunity to win a game of football?
“There is no one getting carried away. They have enjoyed the feeling of winning. That camaraderie, that is important. We were asked questions as a group and the players responded in a great way.” ROTHERHAM UNITED manager Paul Warne says Jamie Proctor is desperate to play his part in the club’s promotion push.
The summer signing from Bolton Wanderers suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in August.
Initially the Millers feared Proctor was out for the season, but his rehabilitation has gone well enough for the striker to make an expected return next month– just in time for the season’s finale and, possibly, the push for promotion via the playoffs.
“I love ‘Procs’,” said Warne ahead of tonight’s trip to Milton Keynes Dons. “The lads will give him stick for this, but he texts me before every game and he comes to loads of the games.
“He is so keen to get back and I would love to let him play some part in our run-in. But I also don’t want to take unnecessary risks with him.
“He has worked really hard to get back into the shape he is in. If I took a risk on him and something was to happen, I would never forgive myself.”
Proctor was in London yesterday to see a specialist and Warne added: “He was our big summer signing. I have said to him that it would be nice if he could come on and score the winner at Wembley. “That would be
stuff. He could just drive off into the sunset and never play again. We have got four fit strikers. I’d love to have five.” DAVID SILVA struck twice as Manchester City took another stride towards their seemingly inevitable coronation as Premier League champions.
Silva found the net early in each half as Pep Guardiola’s men enjoyed a comfortable night at the bet365 Stadium to re-establish a 16-point lead at the top of the table.
The result leaves City needing only a maximum of three wins from eight remaining games to take the title, but two would suffice if one of them comes against second-placed Manchester United.
It means there is a possibility City could complete the job in the derby against rivals United on April 7, if they beat Everton in their next game on March 31.