‘You can’t rely on anyone else to do you a favour because this league is just so unpredictable’
STEVEN Schumacher has taken a break from his preparations to preview Stoke City’s final Championship away match of the season and a chance to secure survival.
Stoke head to Southampton knowing that a win, or results elsewhere, would confirm their place in the division.
It has been a trying campaign packed with drama but the finish line is in sight and Schumacher wants to haul his squad over it with a repeat of last weekend’s thumping of Plymouth.
NEARLY THERE NOW, NEARLY FINISHED?
There’s two games to go, two good games against two different teams who have done really well this year.
It’s two difficult challenges that we’ve got to get through and we’re not done yet.
GIVEN THE RESULT LAST WEEKEND, TRAINING MUST HAVE BEEN VERY EASY THIS WEEK?
No, training has been as it always is. It’s not been any different.
We’re all obviously happy with the result last weekend and happy with how we played but we’ve said to the lads right after the game that we’re still not done. It’s important we keep our focus.
They were back in on Monday and worked as normal and we’ve had a week to prepare for Southampton, which is one of the most difficult games you can get. It’s been as you would. It’s been a good atmosphere, it always is when you win and the pressure is eased a little bit, but it’s not all over.
A BIG SIGH OF RELIEF LAST WEEKEND BUT THERE ARE SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS WHICH CAN STILL HAPPEN?
There are and if football tells you anything it’s that the strange things happen.
We need to try to focus on what we can control. I say that all the time but it’s the only way. You can’t rely on anyone else to do you a favour or get a result for you because it’s so unpredictable.
We’ll just go to Southampton with a game plan to try to take something from the game if we can and then see what happens after the final whistle.
SOUTHAMPTON ARE CLEARLY A GOOD TEAM IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP BUT TEAMS HAVE HAD SUCCESS IN PRESSING AGAINST THEM BECAUSE THEY LIKE TO PLAY OUT FROM THE BACK?
They do like to play out from the back, that’s how Russell (Martin) sets his teams up and it’s really good, really effective. It’s not just for the sake of it.
Their attacking numbers and attacking metrics are right up there with the highest in the league so they pass it with a purpose.
They’ve been one of the best teams, their home record is outstanding.
We’re all aware of how difficult the game is going to be but, like with any match, if you can get your plan right, be aggressive and execute your game plan the way you want then you’ve got a chance in this division.
It proves like that every week. We have to go there with a belief we can get something from this game.
WILL THE LOSS AT LEICESTER WHICH ALL-BUT CONFIRMS SOUTHAMPTON IN THE PLAY-OFFS AFFECT THE MOOD OF THEIR PLAYERS?
I’m not sure. Having had two bad results for them - at Cardiff and Leicester - I’m sure they’ll want a response.
It’s their last home game of the regular season so I know if I was Russell this week I’d be saying, ‘The result wasn’t as we wanted on Tuesday night so we have to try to do something about it in the next game.’
We’re expecting that and whether they make changes or whatever, it doesn’t really matter because whoever they bring in is a good footballer. It’s going to be a hard game and we’re not taking it any differently than we normally would.
IT MIGHT BE TOUGH TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE TEAM THAT BEAT PLYMOUTH BUT WILL YOU PICK A SIDE FOR THE OCCASION?
We’ve shown all the time we’ll pick a side that we think is right for that game. There were a lot of things we did right last week, we felt we played well.
We had a good balance in what we did, it wasn’t just defensive-minded and counter-attacked but we had spells when we controlled the ball and we were really good when we didn’t have the ball.
We looked a threat all the time going towards Argyle’s goal.
That is the message to the lads, can we continue that? Can we get up to that intensity again and get up to that level? I say it all the time, a team that does well in this league has to put back to back results together and that’s what we haven’t managed to do too often this season since we were here. We have to try to change that this weekend.
SOUTHAMPTON HAVE SOLD NEARLY ALL THEIR TICKETS AND STOKE DON’T HAVE MANY LEFT. IT SHOULD BE A GREAT ATMOSPHERE?
Exactly. That’s why no-one can take their eye off the ball and lose focus on what’s at stake. It’s going to be a sell-out and they’re still in the mix.
I know it would be hard for Southampton to get automatic promotion now but they’re not going to want to roll over at their own ground in their last regular home game of the season.
It’s going to be a good atmosphere and any time you go there at any stage of the season it’s going to be a hard game.
We need to make sure that we play well for our fans who are travelling and finish the season as strongly as we can.
NO FRESH INJURY NEWS?
Yes, it’s all clear from last weekend. It’s just the long-term injuries, Ryan, Lynden and Ben who are progressing really well but won’t be available this weekend.