‘Ignore the form and stay positive’, Dawson tells players
‘WE CAN ONLY FOCUS ON OURSELVES’: Interim Tigers boss Andy Dawson. Picture credit: Hull City
By Simon Bristow
Interim manager Andy Dawson says he is having to remind his Hull City players to stay positive as they look to pull away from trouble in the Sky Bet Championship by beating Birmingham City at home on Sunday.
The Tigers, who languish in 20th place in the table, could pull above their Midlands rivals with a win at the MKM Stadium, having had mixed results since the sacking of previous boss Shota Arveladze two weeks ago.
City have lost to Luton and Huddersfield since the Georgian’s departure, with the solitary bright note being a midweek win against Wigan sandwiched between those two defeats.
Speaking at an online press conference today, Dawson said it was important to remind the players of the significance of beating Wigan.
He said: “We’ve had a really positive week. As normal we debriefed the game on Tuesday [the 2-0 loss at Huddersfield]. We spoke about the things that we did OK at and things that we really need to improve, as normal. The lads have worked extremely hard this week and we’re really looking forward to Sunday.
“We had a really positive result against a team that was hard to beat away from home in Wigan - I’ve got to keep reminding the boys that. I think they’ve only been beat three times before they played us that Wednesday, and I keep having to remind the boys - keep being positive, you’ve just beat a really good team at home, so can we take that home form into the next game?”
The Tigers will be without midfielder Regan Slater [suspended] and probably defender Callum Elder [hamstring] for the visit of the Blues, with Dawson saying: “Cal felt his hammy, probably going to be coming too soon for Sunday, but we’ll have a look at him tomorrow. It’s not a bad one. It’ll be touch and go whether he’s OK. If not we’ve got plenty of players to pick from.
“The squad’s healthy, it’s strong, and as I said earlier everybody’s training really, really well.”
Dawson also said he did not take too much notice of the form guide when preparing for matches.
He said: “You look at form in terms of the Championship; I don’t think it sort of pans out that way. I just mentioned Wigan. Wigan had been beat three times in a year and a half, nigh-on, before they came to the KCOM [MKM] last week. I think we have to remember them things. With form you have to be very careful.
“I think you can only focus on yourself. You can only get set up to perform, with the individuals and the intensity that you can create, and really have a go.
“And like we said from minute one, if we are at it, if we do give everything, if we concentrate for 95 minutes, there’s every chance you can win a game, and that’s our real focus, whether that be on Sunday, next Wednesday, next Saturday - the only game that really matters is the next one, and we have to pick the right team and the players have to be in the right mindset and have the right intensity to go and win that, because I’m not a big believer that you can look at form. We proved that against Wigan.”
City have 14 points from 13 matches, with Birmingham in 16th place with 16 points from 13 matches.