Press news in...

We're awaiting the City boss at Colney ahead of City's match with Middlesbrough this weekend...

Subjects on the agenda today will probably include the international break, finals reflections on the East Anglian derby, the tough test coming up and more.

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(team news)

Louis and Kenny - good news with them. Louis after Ipswich was concerned but he has recovered quite well. Back in training towards end of month. Same with Kenny. End of the next week or maybe week after to be back in team training. Looking forward to having them back.

Mario Vrancic - He's available and back in the mix. His last game was at the end of April. It's not so easy to come into the game rhythm. But he's back and available for tomorrow.

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DF: It's always tricky this period, you have to work with a smaller group and the direct prep for Boro begins when some players are away. Some players have played loads in the break but some haven't hardly played.

DF: Teemu only trained today with us, same with Jamal. Max was back yesterday. It's always important to make a late decision on how fit the players are. It's not been Max to handle everything over the last few weeks.

DF: Ivo has a problem with his hamstring and is out for tomorrow. Grant Hanley will be out for the next six weeks. Rare injury with his quadricep.

DF: I trust all of the lads. Christoph has shown he is capable to perform. Same with Ben. He is developing really well. Did well at Cardiff and was solid against Ipswich. It's bad news that Grant is out but the young lads can step up now.

DF: We have a core group of leaders. Timm, Alex, Ivo, Christoph - they can all wear the armband so I'm not concerned who is captain in Grant's absence.

DF: We have been honest with Nelson [Oliveira] and he has been honest with us. Nothing has changed. I can't predict the future but our focus for the next games is with Jordan, Teemu and Dennis to score us the goals. Nelson is training and fit. But our focus is on the players who have been involved in the first few games.

DF: Middlesbrough are one of the favourites for promotion. They have many experienced players. They know how to win games anad get promoted. They have an unbelievably experienced coach.

DF: They've had five clean sheets and joint top of the league. Our fixtures have been tough so far. We know it's a difficult situation. They are so good at defending.
They are very tall as well, they'd be good at basketball!

DF: We will be brave and we proved in many situations, espeically against favourites, that we can deliver and be competitive. We know that we aren't favourites tomorrow but we want to win some points.

DF: Middlesbrough are totally different to Leeds. They are much more focused on defending and focus more on counter-actions and set-pieces. Boro choose this and it's important that you are good at what you choose. They have been successful in that so far.

DF: We played at a high tempo against West Brom, Leeds and Cardiff. It will be difficult to create such a big amount of chances tomorrow but it's important we play with our style. We want to control the ball and press high. We don't want to copy a side like Middlesbrough because we don't have the players to do this.

DF: We have the players to play football. Our game is to control the game with the ball.

DF: Mo played in a more defensive role against Ipswich and I felt he could influence the game more. He scored a brilliant goal. He's a player who plays good build-up passes. He's like a quarterback. He's at his best when he starts attacks but assisting and scoring is a quality he needs to do even more.

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That's all from the Boss. Much more reaction to come on our channels today and tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Posted By: DrDublin, Sep 14, 13:39:10