EXCITEMENT is in the air, everywhere. You can sense it, you can see it on everyone’s faces. My two young sons, George and Jack, are no different. They know that we’re playing Chelsea on Sunday. You just can’t hide it — they certainly can’t hide it.
I’m no killjoy, I know what lies around the corner and how important it is, but, to me, my staff and my players, the club is a Cup-free zone until later this evening, when we will have played Walsall at Layer Road. Even my wife, Suzanne, has been banned from using the C-word. On the strictest of orders, she’s talking Walsall.
It has to be that way, we have to be professional. Promotion from Coca-Cola League One has always been our prime objective and all that we were focusing on in training yesterday was Walsall. The lads respected that, as I knew they would, and everybody came through fine. It was a good session and good to see Kem Izzet back after an ankle injury. We’ll see today if he’s had any reaction.
Losing 2-0 away to Huddersfield Town on Saturday, which ended our ten-match winning sequence, was a bit of a blow, but no more than that. The fates seemed to conspire against us — we hit the woodwork three times and had Garry Richards sent off, a shade harshly, I thought — but that’s gone now.
We have to treat it as just a small setback in what has been a superb season so far because that’s exactly what it is. It was one of those games —and they happen now and again — when almost everything seems to go against you. But we will just take it on the chin and move on.
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I like to stay fit — well, reasonably — and often go for a run after training just to keep the old legs ticking over. I’ve got a bit of a cold so, yesterday, I decided to go to a gym in town for an hour’s work-out to try to sweat it out. It might not sound too clever sniffling through my team talk this evening.
Layer Road is fairly quiet, the major rush for tickets for the big game having subsided, but I suspect it will be alive tonight. Once Walsall have departed for the West Midlands, I can assure you, anyone can talk about anything. I might even mention that C-word myself.
TOMORROW: We turn our attention to Mourinho’s boys in blue