App exclusive: Doherty on an intense week ahead
Tue 29 September 2020, 13:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
‘Unheard of’ is how Matt Doherty described our fixture schedule this week, but he is adamant that we won’t be taking any of our upcoming games lightly.
Over the next five days, we face three games across as many competitions and, even though we are only into the fourth week of the season, each of those matches could hold a significant bearing on the direction of our campaign.
That run starts tonight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as we welcome Chelsea in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup (7.45pm kick-off). Maccabi Haifa are then in north London on Thursday for our Europa League play-off round tie (8pm) before we finish the week with a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon (4.30pm) to take on Manchester United in the Premier League.
Yet, while Matt knows it will be both a physical and mental battle to get through this tough set of fixtures, the Republic of Ireland international believes our squad has the necessary mentality to cope with the demands of these games and to progress.
We’re ambitious as players, as is the manager and his coaches. We want to win these games, progress in these competitions and do as well as we can
“This early on in the season, this (schedule) is a bit unheard of. Sometimes you might get a Saturday, Monday and maybe a Thursday around Christmas or Easter time, so yes, it’s a bit unusual, but the way we are heading into these competitions, we are not going to be taking any game lightly,” our summer arrival from Wolves explained.
“You live to play football and play in any game really, but perhaps not games two days after each other! It takes so much out of you both physically and mentally every game.
"I think we are coming to terms with it though as we have known what the schedule was going to be like for a while. We understand what is ahead of us. Most teams have a game in midweek, we just have that extra one - it’s not like they are just playing every Saturday, so we don’t have a bad attitude towards it.
“We’re ambitious as players, as is the manager and his coaches. We want to win these games, progress in these competitions and do as well as we can. For us, obviously, we have to be getting into the group stage of the Europa League - so that’s a big game on Thursday - but first we have Chelsea in the Carabao Cup tonight and we want to be getting past them. Then we have United away on Sunday. I guess that’s why you have squads in this game.”
