Darren Ferguson Looks Ahead To Tomorrow

Last updated : 11 March 2011 By Thetashkentterror

Darren FergusonPeterborough boss Darren Ferguson spoke to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at London Road tomorrow, Ferguson saying the Posh need to be mentally strong in the match :

 

"We know and the players now that every game is different, but every game we have to approach it in the same manner. We have got to be strong mentally and make sure we are at it, because if you are not then you will probably get punished in this league. Again on Saturday, another difficult game, but we have got to make sure we have a good performance and a good battling performance, and have that mentality that however the game goes or pans out we have got the mentality to be strong and get through it and get the three points.

"I don't see many teams getting success through just one side of their game being good. I even watched the Barcelona game against Arsenal, and everyone does go on about how good they pass the ball, but the way they close down Arsenal never got three passes. The way they put pressure on oppositions, and an opposition as good as Arsenal who many would say are probably one of the better footballing teams in the Premier League, they just wouldn't stop. We have got to get that, we have improved on that side of it and we have improved the determination to make sure we close the opposition down. Because, common sense and the facts and the statistics will tell you that we have got a team full of goals.

"It is a good atmosphere here, the lads are in good spirits, they are coming into work with a smile on their face and enjoying it, as you would expect because we are on a decent run. The training has been good, we trained really well on Monday afternoon and I had a good feeling about Tuesday (1-0 win at Notts County) to be fair. The lads are enjoying it and so they should be, all the credit goes to them because they have been really good, they have responded to everything we have asked and all the credit must go to them.

"Carlisle have got a decent away record of late, on Tuesday they played a similar game to ourselves. I know it is going to be a really difficult game, they have got one or two players in their team that can hurt you. But, again, I stress, it is really about how we go about it, I know that if we can perform with the same determination and obviously a little bit more football because the pitch will be better, then we could have a good chance of winning it."

 

"I go about each game in a very similar manner, we go through the opposition where we feel we can hurt them and where their strengths are, the players will be fully aware of that. But, the main focus has to be on how we perform and where we can hurt them, and Saturday will be no different.

"Carlisle have got a good record of late, normally it is a really difficult, well it still is a really difficult place to go is Carlisle. They are a good team, they have played 34 games of their season and they are 8th in the league so that tells its own story, I don't think that is a fluke. So, we know it is going to be a difficult match.

"We have no injuries at all at the moment, everyone seems fine touch wood, We trained on Thursday afternoon, we will do a bit today and then we will be ready for Saturday. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has done very well when he has come off the bench for us. In the game we started him at Tranmere it was probably a little bit unfortunate for the boy the way the conditions of the pitch were, and it wasn't a great spectacle. But, he has got a big part to play, he will play his part, there is no doubt about that, it would be foolish to ignore the impact he has made when he has come off the bench.

"But, I have just felt that in recent games there have been other positions that have needed to be filled. Tuesday I have put Bally (David Ball) on because he gets at people and he works inbetween people, then in other games midfield players have come on, but he will have a big part to play along with everyone else. There was nothing wrong with Grant McCann when he came off on Tuesday night either, it was just a sort of safety net of putting Kelvin (Langmead) on in front of the back four just incase they got any more set-pieces, he is another header of the ball, so Macca is fine."