Erol pre-Middlesbrough | We must be fully focused
Erol Bulut spoke to the press ahead of our Sky Bet Championship clash against Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon.
The Bluebirds head into the fixture on the back of a positive performance against Premier League outfit Southampton in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
“Last night, we played with many youngsters and players who didn’t get a lot of minutes so far this season,” Erol began.
“For the weekend, a few players will not be with us because of injuries. [Joe] Ralls will not be with us because of a problem with his groin. Also, Isaak [Davies], Kion [Etete], and Will Fish will not be with us.
“David Turnbull has trained with us, so he is ready, not for the starting XI, but I can use him in the second half. Jamilu Collins has not trained with us yet, so he needs more time. Apart from that, I think the other players are available to play.”
In our last Sky Bet Championship fixture, City fought back to claim a draw in the South Wales derby, with great impact from second half substitutes.
Erol continued: “Especially in the second half against Swansea, we were great. We want that for 90 minutes, not only for 45 minutes.
“In the first half, we were a bit passive against Swansea. The second half was more of what we want to see from our players.
“We will decide tomorrow on who will play in the starting XI. It is good to see when players come from the bench and change the game, we need those kind of players.
“Only 11 can play, that’s why we need a good bench of players who can change the game. In the last game, this was Robbo, Rubin and Tanner, El Ghazi helped the team as well. This will be like this in the future, not the same names, but other names.
“We try to make our bench strong so we can have changes, but not have too much difference from the style of performance.”
Middlesbrough have recorded four points from their opening three matches, drawing 2-2 with Portsmouth last time out.
Turning his attention to our opponents this weekend, Erol concluded: “I hope and I wish for Saturday that we can deliver that performance over 90 minutes and even from yesterday’s second half, what we delivered and in the second half against Swansea. That is the direction that we want to play and how we want to play, but of course, we have to split it in 90 minutes, not only in 45 or 60 minutes.
“For sure, it will not be an easy run against Middlesbrough. They have a really good team. We saw the match and how they played against Swansea, it was really good. We have to be careful with everything.
“We cannot say that we will go out and have a run and everything is finished, we have to be concentrated from the first minute to the last minute. We will have our chances, then we have to use it well.”