Toby fired up for final five

The central defender was outstanding alongside Eric Dier as we were beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday. The pair made goal-saving blocks and interceptions and held firm under pressure with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris until we were undone at a set-piece eight minutes from time, City running out 1-0 winners. "We gave our all," said Toby. "We left everything on the pitch."

It was a tough one to take, but football moves quickly, and preparations were well underway for our next match at home to Sheffield United at home on Sunday (7.15pm) when we spoke to Toby this week about targets for the rest of the season.

“We need to get our heads together and qualify for European football, that’s important now,” said Toby, who is up to 231 appearances for us since his arrival in 2015. “Okay, Champions League isn’t in our hands now, but we need to win our games and, game by game, see how far that takes us.”

We step into this latest round of matches sitting seventh in the Premier League with five games remaining, five points behind Chelsea in fourth, two adrift of West Ham in fifth and a point behind Liverpool in sixth. Everton are a point behind us in eighth.

Sheffield United have already been relegated, but got back to winning ways under interim manager Paul Heckingbottom against Brighton last weekend. Toby suggested that the Blades will be able to play with freedom, which can often make for a dangerous opponent.

He added: “Maybe they’ll play freely, because they’ve nothing to lose. They will just play to win. We’re at home so it’s up to us to start positively, that’s important, and kick on from there. It's a game we need to win.”