Zeki's boost

Zeki Fryers hopes Sunday's victory against Cardiff will give us added confidence for this weekend’s visit to Chelsea.

Roberto Soldado’s first half goal gave us a 1-0 win against the Bluebirds and saw us bounce back to winning ways in the Premier League after the disappointing reverse at Norwich in our previous domestic outing.

Left-back Zeki, who made only his second Premier League start in the Cardiff match, admitted Sunday’s victory wasn’t the prettiest – but he believes the positive result will spur us on as we enter a period of decisive fixtures in our season.

“I think at times we made it difficult for ourselves against Cardiff,” said the 21-year-old. “It wasn’t the nicest of games but we got maximum points so all the lads are chuffed.

“We have to keep winning though, and we’ve got a bit of extra confidence now for the game on Saturday against Chelsea.”
Sunday’s match marked Zeki’s 11th senior appearance for us in all competitions, his only previous Premier League start coming in the 3-0 win against Stoke City on December 29.

And the 21-year-old, who also played 90 minutes in last Thursday’s Europa League victory against FC Dnipro, said he’s thriving on the chance to get more first team experience under his belt.

“I enjoyed the Cardiff game, especially as I managed to get forward quite a lot,” he said. “I’d like to get more game time so my confidence builds up and hopefully I can push on from there.”