Press news in...

Daniel Farke's pre-Birmingham City press conference will be underway shortly...
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DF: All the players who were available for the last game are available. We will have to play without Ben Gibson, he has back issues and it's too soon for him.

DF: There will always be teams who win point and lose points. We don't look at other teams results on a gameday.

DF: For me, it's not important to be addicted to the table. In this league, the momentum can change quite quickly.

DF: The most important thing is conversations with my players. I'm quite open with Przeymslaw. We really rate him, he's unique in our squad. He's a young lad and has been there with assists and goals already.

DF: He's playing in the most competitive league in the world. He always does extra work and it's also important to give him a little rest. We wanted to lift the weight from his shoulders a little bit. I love his attitude but something we have to make sure we protect him a little bit.

DF: We have lots of competition at the moment. He's showed a good reaction a few times when he's not been in the squad. It's difficult for him to get back in because we're playing well.

DF: If you want to be professional, you have to plan for the short, mid and long-term. We having to discuss next season but this is more for behind-the-scenes between my staff, the board and Stuart Webber. My job is to focus on the next game. If you're not successful in the short-term, you can't be successful in the long-term.

DF: I'm delighted for James [Maddison] and Ben [Godfrey]. Sometimes I have time to sit on the sofa and watch their games. With James, we wanted to improve him here rather than going out on loan. With Ben, we wanted to move him to Shrewsbury.

DF: I'm proud of them. You can bring a young player in but it's down to them to make the step through the door. It's good that we produce such talents. Young players are always in good hands at Norwich City. Sadly, Ben and James are not my players anymore. They had outgrown the club and we had to accept this.

DF: I got the feeling my players in their individual performances have stepped up. But also my players who've come back from injury, they've had time to get back to their best. We also have good competition in the squad right now. The discipline on the pitch has been good - it's always good to end the game with 11 players.

DF: It was good also to have the week before the Stoke game to work together on the training pitch. At the moment, touchwood we are in a really good shape. But there is still room for improvement - we can improve our effectiveness. But it's good at the moment.

DF: At this level, you need to be motivated to succeed. We always talk about keeping going. If you're seven points clear of the relegation battle, it's difficult for teams below to catch you. If you're at the top of the table and you lose three games in a row, it's more difficult because teams at the top win games more often.

DF: The amount of points we have is really good. But our topic is to achieve 80 points as soon as possible. That means no one can take us out of the top six. Then we'll try and achieve more points.

DF: You always have to keep going, we've seen how quickly things can change. It's not a guarantee that we show this level in the upcoming games, we have to put it into action.

DF: Our win at Coventry was priceless. They are good at home, it shows even more when they won at home on Saturday. We need the same level of performance but in a different way. Birmingham are a big club and have a experienced coach, and they are fighting against relegation. I'm sure they will finish in the mid-table. It's normal in this league that you can slip away. They've won two in eight games but they don't concede many goals. It's always difficult against Aitor Karanka teams, they are always compact against the ball.

DF: The pitch will not make it easy! But we can't choose this, we have to make sure that we speed up the game as much as possible.

DF: Birmingham won't allow us to have many chances. It's important we are spot on defensively.

DF: We've proved that we can create chances against sides who sit a bit deeper. If there's one team who's capable to do this in this league, it's us.

DF: Rotation is always an option. In terms of fitness levels, we are quite happy. We had to invest a lot on Saturday because we were on the front foot.

DF: We've recovered well from Saturday. The players are ready to go again.

DF: Orjan Nyland is close to being back in the mix. He works intensely with our goalkeeping coach. But I trust Daniel Barden so there's no need to rush anything. It's been good to give him some time to get used to being around the team at the training ground.

DF: Sebastian had some muscle problems but he's back in training for their game on Friday. Marco came through the game well on Friday. We'll give him another week with the Under-23s because we are doing lots of recovery and tactical work at the moment.

DF: You have to learn from every day. No matter what age you are, you have to learn lessons each and every day. Emi is always self-critical. I don't want him to change his game, I don't want him to play without emotion. It was a harsh red card and not deserved. But he's learned from this. He needs to be smarter in a couple of situations but we've spoken to him and he's fully focused. I'm totally pleased with his attitude.

DF: Some of the facilities have been strange. But it's down to rules what clubs do and it shouldn't affect us.

DF: It's very strange. The game is not the same with the supporters. The Leicester game was a brilliant evening. It's all about bring different people and cultures together. It's strange it's almost been a year. Hopefully it won't last another year.

DF: There was a hit on Emi's calf but it's not a problem for tomorrow.

DF: We don't need comfortable or posh dressing rooms like in the new Tottenham stadium. As long as there's no alcohol in the bar before the game I'm totally fine with it!

DF: Scott Hogan is a proven player at this level. They also have Jutkiewicz up front. I like Leko and Sanchez too in the wide areas. They are good side.

DF: I've criticised our effectiveness a bit. We should be scoring more goals with the chances we create. But it's a good sign we've brought tight wins over the line.

DF: We have changed a little bit the balance of the team. We've protected the back four a little bit. We've had number ten types in front of the back four, now we have a bit more steel in front of the back four. Our offensive players have stepped up a lot during this season.

DF: We've become better in gaining control back in games when the opposition has a spell of pressure.

DF: We can always trust Christoph. He's done very well this season when he's played. They know it's difficult to play with two centre-backs for every single game in the season.

DF: Every player wants to play each and every second. Our injury list has improved a lot and that means some players have to miss out a little bit.

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That's all from the boss today, join us on canaries.com for more build up to tomorrow's match.

Posted By: DrDublin on February 22nd 2021 at 14:38:23

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