PILKINGTON: AWAY WINS THE BIG FOCUS
Despite having built some welcomed momentum on home soil, Anthony Pilkington has called on the clear need for Cardiff City to improve on the road results, if we are to have a chance to taste success this season.
Ahead of the Bluebirds’ difficult trip to face Watford this weekend, Anthony said plainly, “We need to pick up our away form. That’s what’s damaging our position in the table at the moment. We’ve got a tough away game again coming up and all the focus is on trying to get our first away win.
“If we pick up our away form to match our home form, we’ll be right up there. You can’t really put your finger on it, but I’m sure when the first one comes, a few more will roll along.”
Pilkington, who scored his first senior International goal for his country in the Republic of Ireland’s 4-1 win over the United States, was on the winning side again on Friday evening. He reflected on a tough 2-1 home victory and the frustrations in not keeping a clean sheet, saying, “We were disappointed with the goal. We work hard on set-pieces, so it’s disappointing to concede from them.
“I think before that we kept the ball reasonably well in the second half; and we did have a few chances as well. If we’d have put those away it would have all been different, and we could have been three or four-nil up. In the end though it’s three points and you can’t complain with that.
“They came out and started alright, but we got the first goal - and in this league it’s really important to do that. We got that, and we got the second goal as well, with them having a man sent off. Obviously we would have liked to score four or five goals when the opposition has gone down to ten men, but sometimes they sit and it’s difficult. We just wanted to keep the ball dead and see if we could dislodge one of them to create a few chances. We could have put those chances away, and that would have made things a little easier towards the end.”
Anthony then acknowledged teammates Ben Turner, Peter Whittingham and Adam Le Fondre against Nigel Adkins’ Royals; the midfielder saying, “[Ben] said in the huddle that it came off of one of their players’ legs. He didn’t want to claim it! What [Peter] can do with his left foot, it’s a wonder. You expect that from Whitts now though, because he’s been doing it for years and years, at this level and above. It’s not a surprise to see him doing that.”
On Adam’s contribution to the penalty, one that saw Reading’s Alex Pearce sent off, he added, “Alfie is a nuisance up front. He’s done really well, he’s worked hard and he’s got himself in a goalscoring position. I think Alex knew that he had to go, so yes, it definitely was a sending-off. Whitts has been taking them for years though, so I wasn’t going to argue with him!”
