Press news in...

Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Coolknee.
------------------------------------------------------

Josh Sargent has been training. Clement has been training and will be selection for tomorrow.

PC: 'Great to have him available. Rotation is key. We need as many players as possible.'

Jovon Makama suffered a knock against Charlton on Boxing Day. Clement will make a late call on him ahead of tomorrow's game. He was kicked.

Papa Amadou Diallo is on track to return in January. He is making good progress. Liam Gibbs also available for selection. Shane Duffy not in need of surgery.

On Pereira GK coach hire: 'He has a lot of experience. It's normal to work with two goalkeeper coaches. He will be more academy but will also help Declan. I never worked with him, but I know some people who came across him.'

Selection decisions: 'It will not be a complete new team. It's a tough balance with who to start and who to end. Some players will start that we know can only play 45 minutes or 60 minutes. We brought Ben (Chrisene) and Jose (Cordoba) back like that previously. We came out of a period where we had good players in positions that either weren't in their best position or one they've never been in before.'

PC: 'We are happy with 10 points out of 12 at home. But we are nowhere near where we could be if everyone was fit and we have more time to train. There are important stuff around to get them ready for games.'

On McConville: 'I don't care if someone is 17 or 37, it's about what they show on the pitch. Ruairi took his chance and has shown consistency in the games, training and meetings. There will be one moment where he doesn't play because I will make rotations but that is not the case at the moment. I'm happy with his consistency. That is the hardest bit for a young player. I don't see Ruairi as doing something special now, because I've seen him doing this from the start. It's the same with Kellen Fisher. We need to work and move further with them.'

McConville continued: 'In this league, you need to be strong in your physical duels. He is doing the right things with the ball in our building and is making the right choices at the right moments. That is the hardest thing. I see someone who has grown in recent weeks and he's doing really good things.'

Facing Watford again: 'The planning and preparation is different for every game. There have been some tweaks to how they play not in their general ideas. If you look at the form of the teams over the last five games, Watford are the team with the most points. QPR are second. We've been unlucky with the schedule but on the other side, it gives teams a lot of confidence because we've taken points against teams in form.'

PC: 'The challenge is that the team have shown really good things in the short term. They have become stronger in every sense. I see them growing a lot. If you want to be successful as a club, it's consistency. It's another test tomorrow. If we want to reach our goals in the long-term, then we need to perform consistently. That's for the guys who have performed well in recent weeks and those that are coming in.'

Schwartau progress: 'He is showing that consistency and that is why he gets so many chances. We have a lot of young players with potential. A lot of people say now 'it's an interesting team with a lot of potential', two months ago it was that they aren't ready or good enough. We need to keep challenging them to get better. I'm really curious about where the maximum potential of this group is. That's my job to push it forward so they understand the game more. That's why we need the experienced boys around like Harry, Josh, Jack Stacey and others so we can keep consistency in how we play.'

On the chance to get out of the back three: 'I hope nobody is busy with that in the building. We want to be brave and play each game. Since Birmingham, we have been brave. Our focus is on ourselves and not the ranking. If we do that, we will end up in the right spot in the league.'

----------------------------------------------------------

That brings Philippe Clement's press conference to an end

Posted By: DrDublin on December 28th 2025 at 13:59:10

Message Thread

Press news in... (NCFC) - DrDublin, Dec 28, 13:59:10
- It is a frustrating coincidence we keep playing teams that are top of the form table (NCFC) - Allen, Dec 28, 14:30:32
  - Like err.. Oxford and Charlton. (n/m) (NCFC) - Henclrikus, Dec 28, 15:08:01
    - No those 2 were not top of the form table? (NCFC) - Allen, Dec 28, 15:19:11
      - oppo form over last 6 games (NCFC) - Henclrikus, Dec 28, 16:03:59
        
        Cl'mont is looking at 5 game form table (NCFC) - Chris Peacock, Dec 28, 18:20:55
        
        That doesn't change my overall point (NCFC) - Henclrikus, Dec 28, 18:39:31
        
        I think youve taken the wording too literally (NCFC) - Allen, Dec 28, 19:15:16
        
        jesus christ get a life (n/m) (NCFC) - Allen, Dec 28, 16:20:56
        
        I thought that was interesting (NCFC) - Old Git, Dec 28, 17:01:23
        
        yes fascinating. I however I still agree generally with Clement that (NCFC) - Allen, Dec 28, 17:48:10
        
        Think it felt worse recently because Preston were (NCFC) - jamesward, Dec 28, 17:02:42
      - Charlton had picked up form and Oxford had just beaten Ipswich. (n/m) (NCFC) - MORDENCANARY, Dec 28, 15:58:38
- Cheers Dubs. Sarge in for big Mak then (n/m) (NCFC) - loz, Dec 28, 13:59:58
  - Yup, no bad thing to give him a rest given all the games coming up. (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Dec 28, 14:03:07

Reply to Message

In order to add a post to the WotB Message Board you must be a registered WotB user.

If you are not yet registered then please visit the registration page. You should ensure that their browser is setup to accept cookies.