MALKY: FITNESS EQUALS FIRST
The record breaking win at Cardiff City Stadium may not have been the prettiest of encounters, but having notched maximum pointsMalky Mackay was left proud of the endeavour of his players against a team fighting for their lives in the division.
“It was always going to be a tough game, playing against a team who had come here off the back of a bad midweek result,” Malky said after the game. “We looked at the size of their team; they’re a big team who were obviously going to try and work at us at set pieces. Every time they got the ball around they half way line they launched them in to our box to ask us questions. I thought we dealt with that really well, got the ball down and created a number of chances and attempts that never came to fruition. But as the game wore on I think that our patience paid off.
“We showed plenty of spirit against a team fighting for their life, like everyone. It’s said a lot, but there are no easy games in this league and we have to regularly apply ourselves as hard as we can. Sometimes there’s an expectation on a team because of where teams are placed in the league, but that’s nonsense. Today was an example again of having to out there and apply ourselves or we would have been beaten, it’s as simple as that.
“My team always play until the last whistle and are very fit, allowing us to score late in games, which we’ve done before this season due to the amount of pressure we’ve applied. We did the same today and in particular I was delighted in how we kept the ball in that area and kept pushing them back into the final third.
“We put pressure on their goal and eventually it got to the point where the ball was closed down as it had been in the first half when they blocked four or five shots. Eventually Craig (Conway) got himself into a position where he could get away a good strike on target.
“Now we go away to Blackburn, having notched four points from six in the last two away games; and had it not been for the sending off we could have made it two wins. But we’re delighted with our form right now and will be looking forward to going up to Blackburn on Friday as the team top of league. And right now I’m very proud of the group of players out there today.”
