Enzo Maresca Pre-Match Press Conference vs Leeds

hackneyfox

Roofer
Injuries?
“Ben is back. The only one at the moment is Wilf. He’s still injured. Will Alves, after the Under-21 game, he got a muscle problem.

“Iheanacho’s available, yes. As we said, one of our best positions is Wilf and then we lost Cesare. We are trying to adapt. Unfortunately Wilf is still injured.”

“They said to me (on Alves), three or four weeks. I don’t know (what specifically the problem is).”

Pivotal game?
“For sure it’s an important game. When you see you’re close to the final target, when you drop points, you are sad. But it’s about balance. We still have 12 games. We are in the final run.”

Could be down to six points with a loss?
“We never give importance to the points difference. It was 17, but it was also eight. Now it’s nine. Could be six, it could be 12. It’s the final target. We’ll see.”

Prepare for the game?
“We try to prepare the game in the way we want. We can’t control the final result. We dominated the game with many shots but at the end we lost. We are going to do our game. It doesn’t matter tomorrow result in terms of confidence. It will be one more game.”

Aiming to win title or just promotion?
“If we are able to finish first, good, happy. But it’s important for the fans to finish well.”

How many points needed for promotion?
“No idea because it’s… not strange, but we dropped points, Southampton dropped points, Leeds are winning every game now. We’ll see game after game.”

What to expect from Leeds?
“I think they are quite similar. They are very dangerous when the opposition have the ball. They have very good players, especially the four up front. They are fantastic.”

Why are Leeds unbeaten at home?
“The reason why they didn’t drop points at home. I don't know. The last time I was there with Man City, we won, so they can lose at home. They say the atmosphere is very good.”

Big game for both teams?
“It’s a huge game for them. For us, it’s one more game.”

Win would be significant in promotion push?
“It would be good. Winning tomorrow means we need less points for the final target. But if we draw or lose, we are still there and we’re going to fight to the end.”

Bouncing back from Boro loss?
“We have already lost two games in a row. Leeds and Boro. Hopefully tomorrow we can win. If we can win five or six in a row, it’s probably finished.”

Need to hush the Leeds crowd?
“It will be very important if we are able to decrease the atmosphere. We’ll try to keep the ball and control our game, avoiding the transitions from the first game. All of their chances were because we lost the ball. But we can’t think that we’re not going to lose the ball. It’s going to happen, we have to manage it.”

Why is game more important for Leeds?
“I think it’s an important game, and every time we win a game, we move closer to the target. But if it doesn’t happen, we keep going. It’s a huge game, but for them more because they are nine points behind us. If we are nine points behind, yes, it’s the game we have to win.”
 
Thanks Hackney. I hope Enzo learns from the first game. In some ways it just might be easier to play them tonight than at the KP. If we can score first it’ll be a big statement
 
Back
Top