was the deliverer of good news on Friday regarding City’s lynchpin midfielder, Peter Whittingham.Malky Mackay
“Peter Whittingham is fit,” said the Gaffer. “He’s trained this week and he’s fit and available for the squad which is great. Peter rarely misses training or a game.
“Prior to last weekend our team were on the edge of breaking down as far as our medical and sports science teams were concerned. It was good for some of the squad to get a few days’ rest, but now they’re desperate for a game.”
“They are very much one of the form teams in the division, and I didn’t doubt that with Mick (McCarthy) going there. He’s a good, experienced manager that has brought in four or five fresh faces; by now they’ll be implementing in the way he wants them to work. It takes a manager three or four weeks to get his message over to a new group, but I’ve no doubts as to the way Mick will take Ipswich. Mick McCarthy’s teams have always been very hard-working teams, like the manager himself.And in reference to Saturday’s opponents – Ipswich Town – Malky added:
“Complacency has never been my biggest danger. My staff and I shape the squad and talk to the squad daily so that our messages are clear – I don’t see my players ever becoming complacent about going into a game in the Championship, from the ones that have been in it for five minutes to those who have been in it for fifteen years. We’re top, we’re seven points clear, so teams will have to do better than us, but that does happen. Nobody here will rest on their laurels with nearly half the season still to go. There’s certainly nobody within the walls of the Vale getting carried away. I think getting in the high-eighties to early-nineties (points) will get us up, so we need more than ten wins.”