Page 7 - 360633 LP236168 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (April 2022)

They have to stand up and be counted. The likes of your Jack Clarkes, Ross Stewarts, Patrick Roberts, Alex Pritchards, big games need big players. The players that we’ve got, the squad is supposed to be the best squad in the league. We have to prove it.
BARNES
The other thing is Gillingham are fighting for
their lives. They have had Neil Harris come in and he’s been quite critical of the recruitment there and knows there are big problems. He’s experienced with many years at Millwall. With the way they used to play, expect them to be uncompromising. In terms of personnel, they don’t worry me, they’re at the wrong end of the table and they’re there for a reason. I think that’s what Neil Harris was indicating that they’ve bought badly. My biggest fear is their attrition, that way of grinding out of results. Win this one and great, on to a very different test at Oxford the next week.
OXFORD
BARNES
The record at Oxford is mixed. The games have always been close, but Oxford just edge them. The position they’re in in the play-offs, this is
the big one. We can’t afford to lose. It will be interesting to see how we set up. At the back, do we go with four like we did against Wigan and attempt to soak up pressure and catch them on the counter attack, or do we go three at the back, which the players are clearly more comfortable with and try and take the game to Oxford? I would do the latter, because we are picking up clean sheets now which is a big plus. I would go to Oxford and be bold and not fear them, go with the intention that we are going here to win and set up accordingly with attack minded players.
BENNO
As Nick just mentioned, you’ve got to be bold, brave. When you’re playing away, it’s a different type of atmosphere. It’s a huge game for the opposition. They’ll be right behind the team, we’ll take two, three, four thousand supporters, all of a sudden turning it into a party atmosphere, a carnival as well as a huge game for them, one they’re looking forward to in front of what would likely be their best crowd of the season. If we’re cautious and play it safe, you’re just inviting pressure and the crowd gets behind them. You need to be brave and put them on the back
foot. I’d stick with three at the back because it works. They’re starting to get an understanding, a relationship, Cirkin and Wright and Winchester. A good partnership and understanding. Clarke’s
getting used to that wing back position and
yes, defensively, he’s being questioned. It’ll be interesting to see who’s on the right, whether it’ll be Gooch. Last game Cirkin got tired, but he had put a shift in. The number of times he was positive and picked the ball up, broke into the areas, sooner or later he was going to tire. Because we dominated the game, for the last ten we needed another defender to shore things up.
SHREWSBURY
BARNES
If you win all seven games, you’re guaranteed play-offs. If you win six, you can afford to lose one and still be in the play-offs. If you are going to lose one, the game that keeps coming back to me is potentially this one. They’ve been party poopers this season, going away to the top teams and winning. With Steve Cotterill there’s just a bit of the returning to Sunderland issue, likewise Tom Flanagan. Little ingredients in the way that they are made up and the way they’ve went on this season to cause an upset. Is this going to be the one to worry about? Against the better teams, the game tends to open up, Shrewsbury is the one that worries me.
BENNO
Mentally, if we get a result, you might go into the game with a couple of points cushion. You win that Shrewsbury game, you might have a three-point cushion, or you’ve secured maybe that fifth place position and a couple other wins, that’s you in. That game against Shrewsbury is going to be huge, going into the back of the Gillingham and Oxford games.
BARNES
If you string together three wins, then you’re beginning to do what Plymouth did. They’d won
six on the bounce. That’s what Sunderland need to do, they’ve got the personnel to do it, they’re keeping the clean sheets. It’s just turning those clean sheets into victories, the games like Charlton or Lincoln. Having Broadhead back in is a must, Defoe is gone, so Broadhead is taking over as the
ALOVESUPREME ISSUE258 7
BY SEAN MACKIE