McCarthy: A Game We Have to Win Friday, 28th Oct 2016 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy admits that Saturday’s home game against bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United is a match that the Blues have to win. McCarthy’s side dropped from 12th to 17th following last week’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle, only five points from the bottom three, although also just six off the play-offs. The Blues manager says he always goes into a game believing his team can take something from it, even at St James' Park last Saturday. "“I fancy my chances every week,” he said. “I did last weekend until they scored after 56 seconds. “I never go anywhere and don’t think we’re going get something out of the game. We’ve got to win it, it’s a game we have to win.” Rotherham, who are eight points off safety having lost their last seven home or away and all seven of their away games this season, recently appointed Kenny Jackett as manager after sacking Alan Stubbs, who had only taken over in the summer. McCarthy sees parallels with Town’s situation when he took charge four years ago next Tuesday and knows what Jackett’s priority will be as he looks to arrest the Millers’ slide. “Not to be beaten,“ he said. “I think they had an encouraging game against Reading last week when they lost 1-0, they had quite a lot of chances, actually. “Some from freekicks and throw-ins and corner kicks, they’ve got a big team. Kenny certainly gets his teams well-organised and hard-working. “He’s just like the rest of us in terms of what he demands of his team - to be hard-working, to put your foot in and they’ll certainly come here and will be up for it because of Kenny. “And with all his teams, he’s had pretty good success in the Football League, in the Championship. With Wolves he missed out on the play-offs by a single goal to us two years ago. He knows what it’s all about and it’ll be a really hard game. “Like me when I came here four years ago, we had to get a result at Birmingham. And we did, that’s what they’ll be looking for.” Having been in a similar situation at Town, McCarthy, who will be in charge of his 201st game with the Blues, knows what to expect from the Millers. “You’re not going to come in and play silky football and get your way out like that, that’s for sure, not with so many games gone already,” he added. “It really will be a bit of a siege mentality, a bit backs-to-the-wall, don’t concede, be hard to beat and you’ll always get a chance. “We played against Newcastle and we hit the crossbar. We had a couple of breaks from which we might have done better in the second half, we had corner kicks. “You’ve only got to get one and it changes the course of the game. It changes the course of their season if they can nick a win. And that’s what they’ll be trying to do, just as I did four years ago.” With the South Yorkshiremen sitting at the bottom of the table the expectation among some fans will be that the Blues should win comfortably. “I can’t affect that, all I can affect is the team’s performance and we try and do that every week,” McCarthy continued. “But it’s not going to be easy, they’re fighting for their lives. And, as I said, four years ago we went to Birmingham and we had seven points after 13 games. “And we went there and put in a real scrapping performance, we nicked a goal, it set us off, it gave us a good start. “I know Kenny was there last week but he hadn’t picked the team, that was already done, so this will be his team, this will be his first game that he’s counting on and he’ll be looking desperately for something out of it.” Given the takeover at Wolves in the summer McCarthy says it was no shock that Jackett was jettisoned by the Molineux club, even if he had had a largely successful spell. “I wasn’t surprised at all, new owners coming in, they wanted a new manager, that was probably the worst kept secret that that was going to happen,” he said. “It’s just sad, new owners came in, Kenny had done a good job, he finished seventh one goal behind us when we got to the play-offs the year before, having got them promoted before that from League One." McCarthy says Saturday's match won’t be anything like as open as the 2-0 victory over Burton in the last home game, given Rotherham’s probable approach. “If they’re going to be hard to beat we’ve got to have somebody in the team that can do the damage and beat them,” he said. “There’s no way in this world I’m just going to be completely wide open and all gung-ho. I remember Rotherham came here last year with Neil Warnock, another vastly experienced manager, and they were so hard to break down. “And, of course, it was Besty that scored the winner for them, maybe he’ll reciprocate on my behalf on Saturday and score against Rotherham.” Saturday’s match is the first of four at home in the next six with the Blues having made a generally solid if unspectacular start at Portman Road this season, winning three, drawing three, losing only the game against then-leaders Huddersfield. Town’s play-off finish in 2014/15 was built on solid home form and McCarthy believes clubs don’t see Portman Road as an easy place to visit. “[Terriers boss] David Wagner alluded to that, he knew what sort of a game it was, it was a tough game and the difference was a corner kick, a restart,” he added. “I don’t think people relish the thought of coming down here, but we want to beat them. We don’t just want to have a hard game, we want to beat them and get back to that.” Reflecting on the defeat at Newcastle last week, McCarthy says the Magpies are a side and a club above and beyond the rest in the Championship. “They are, in everything,” he added. “We were stood in the stadium and there aren’t too many around like that in the Championship. “And then the team and the bench and the way they played, they were far better than us, from one to 11. The 11 players that played are all better than us. “They slapped Preston 6-0 on Tuesday, I know Preston had one sent off after 27 minutes but nevertheless, to put six past somebody is pretty good going. “That didn’t cause me that much grief from then until now. It was just a case that they were better than us. It wasn’t that we were awful by any stretch of the imagination, we just came up against a very good side, who if they can maintain that level will be promoted quicker than any other team has been.” Having endured what he says has been the toughest spell of injuries since he’s been at the club - “It’s been the worst season for them so far” - McCarthy hopes results will improve and there’ll be a reduction in the fractiousness among supporters. “We need to get results to get fans supporting us,” he admitted. “In terms of being unfortunate through injuries, then I think we have been, and that’s cost us like it costs any team. “But hopefully we’ll get them back and we can start to pick up and results will improve. And people will start being nice to me again.” The Blues boss says McGoldrick is now ready to start, while Jonny Williams will again be on the bench on Saturday, providing a boost for everyone at the club. “Generally around the place when we start getting players back fit, and certainly good players like Jonny and Didz, it does improve the spirit,” he added. Also expected to return is key midfielder Cole Skuse, who missed the trip to Newcastle with a toe problem. “Skusey’s been great,” McCarthy continued. “He’s just one of those players that gives you security. “That might not always be what everybody wants to hear, the one that mops up and tidies up, the continuity player. But without them teams really struggle and he is vitally important to me.” On-loan Everton man Conor Grant made a rare start in a central role at Newcastle, which the Town manager believes suits him best. “He is more central, whether that’s in a three. He’s not really a wide player, although he has done that. He’s far happier playing down the middle,” McCarthy added. “Really it was fresh legs having had Bish and Kevin Bru play in the week and I thought Conor did OK.” The Blues boss is waiting on the fitness of full-backs Luke Chambers (foot) and Jonas Knudsen (back) with the Danish international left-back less likely to make it than the Town skipper. If Knudsen isn’t involved then Myles Kenlock will make his first appearance of the season, while Josh Emmanuel is Chambers’s potential deputy. Christophe Berra, who is likely to wear the captain’s armband if Chambers is ruled out, will partner Adam Webster at the heart of the defence. Bartosz Bialkowski will be in goal. Skuse will return in midfield where McCarthy has options with Teddy Bishop and Kevin Bru having been in the side which beat Burton 2-0 at home last time out, while Grant and Jonathan Douglas returned to the team at Newcastle. McCarthy may opt to field Skuse and Douglas in a two-man central midfield with McGoldrick perhaps starting ahead of them, playing behind his close friend Leon Best for the first time at Town, with two of Freddie Sears, Tom Lawrence and Grant Ward in the wide roles. Williams will probably play a part from the bench at some stage. Rotherham added free agent striker Peter Odemwingie to their squad this week and the Nigerian international could start. Veteran Irish right-back Stephen Kelly has returned after an achilles problem, while midfielder Tom Adeyemi (calf) and centre-halves Kelvin Wilson (also calf) and Kirk Broadfoot (foot) all remain sidelined. Manager Jackett is pleased that Rotherham supporters have welcomed his appointment. “I’m delighted to hear that. That’s terrific,” Jackett told the South Yorkshire Times. “All my determination is directed towards working hard to improve this team and getting the most out of the squad in the short term. “That’s 90 per cent of my work at the moment. As we go along, it will include targeting, identifying players window by window, improving what we do. “I’m very pleased to hear about the fans. My head is down and I’m working as hard as I possibly can. I’m going to get a place in the area and make sure I can commit to it 100 per cent, because that’s what I’ve done at every club. “I do feel that at every club I’ve been at I’ve left them in in a better condition than I inherited them. I want that to be the case here. “It’s very, very good to hear the fans have welcomed my appointment. All my determination is to replay that faith and show I can make a difference here and improve it.” The Blues have won 14 of the previous games between the sides, all of which have been in the league, seven have ended in draws, with the Millers having won seven. The teams last met at Portman Road in March when then-Rotherham frontman Best’s goal a minute before half-time saw the Millers to a 1-0 victory. The Irish international scraped home from close range from a Matt Derbyshire cross, the visitors having caught Town on the break after they had lost possession from a freekick in the Millers' half. In November last year, Daryl Murphy ended his early season goal drought by netting his first hat-trick in 11 years as the Blues thrashed Rotherham 5-2 at the New York Stadium. Brett Pitman and Jonathan Douglas had already scored before Murphy grabbed his first of the campaign to make it 3-0 at the break. His second followed three minutes after the restart before the Millers hit back via Brandon Barker and Matt Derbyshire, but Murphy’s third in the 72nd minute ended any hopes of a dramatic comeback. The Rotherham squad includes ex-Town keeper Lewis Price, who signed on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer. The 32-year-old joined Town as an academy scholar from Southampton and went on to make 74 starts and one sub appearance for the Blues between 2004 and 2007. Price has made only one EFL Cup appearance for the Millers, a 5-4 after-extra-time home defeat to Morecambe. Midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey, who is spending the season on loan at Rotherham from Brighton, is the stepson of ex-Town striker Nicky Forster. Town striker Best joined the Millers in November last year and went on to make 10 starts and six sub appearances, scoring four goals as he helped them to avoid what at one time seemed certain relegation. Having been initially offered a new contract by former boss Neil Warnock, that deal was withdrawn by his successor Alan Stubbs,who lasted only five months and 14 league games before he was sacked earlier this month. Grant Ward spent last season on loan at the New York Stadium from Tottenham, making 35 starts and eight sub appearances, scoring twice. Blues midfielder Luke Hyam was on loan at the New York Stadium between November and December last year, making two starts and three sub appearances. Tom Lawrence spent a month on loan with Rotherham from his current parent club Leicester between November and December 2014, making six starts and scoring one goal. Academy coach Alan Lee had a successful spell at Millmoor between 2000 and 2003 and fitness coach Andy Liddell was briefly a player and caretaker-manager there late in his career. Saturday’s referee is Darren Bond from Lancashire, who has shown 33 yellow cards and four red in 12 games so far this season. Bond’s most recent Town match was the 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough in April in which he booked Luke Hyam and former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter. Prior to that he took control of the 1-0 win at Huddersfield in February in which he booked Luke Chambers, Brett Pitman and Ainsley Maitland-Niles as well as one home player. He was also in charge of the dramatic last-gasp 1-0 victory at Charlton in November 2014 in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout. Two months before that he refereed the 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday when he booked only two home players, while his only other match involving the Blues was the 2-2 draw at Barnsley in February of the same year in which he again showed no cards. Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Emmanuel, Knudsen, Kenlock, Berra, Webster, Digby, Skuse, Douglas, Bru, Williams, Bishop, Grant, Dozzell, Ward, Lawrence, Sears, Best, McGoldrick, Varney.
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