Blues boss Kieran McKenna gave a rare ‘no comment’ answer when quizzed on his thoughts regarding Wolves striker Matheus Cunha being charged by the FA for his conduct after being red-carded at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Town are currently five points plus goal difference behind the Old Gold in 17th, the final safe spot in the Premier League, with Cunha having played a major part in dragging the Midlanders out of the bottom three, scoring 15 times.

Cunha is already banned for three games for his dismissal for violent conduct in the FA Cup defeat to the Cherries, but yesterday was charged with acting in an improper manner when he subsequently refused to leave the field of play and faces a further suspension with one more game meaning he misses April’s showdown between the teams at Portman Road.

Earlier in the season, the 25-year-old Brazilian international was suspended for two games and fined £80,000 for elbowing and then removing the glasses of a member of the Town security detail in the melee which followed the Blues’ 2-1 win at Molineux.

Asked for his thoughts on the charge, McKenna said: “Have I ever had a no comment before in three years? I don't think I've pulled it out of my pocket in three years, but I'm going to have to pull it out for this one. 

“No, honestly, I know it's a wee bit of a thing around rival fans of Wolves and rival fans would like to see the player not available because he's a very, very good player. 

“I don't spend one minute of energy in my day thinking about what might happen to a rival player because I can't control it.

“You've got to trust that the authorities will make the appropriate decision and we need to take care of ourselves.”

Similarly, McKenna says, as was the case when the Blues were vying for promotion from League One and the Championship, he’s still taking little notice of the league table.

“No, it's still very much looking at ourselves,” he said. “We don't pay much attention to the results of other teams and we didn't do that when we were at the top and we're not doing it now that we're at the other end of the table.

“We know we're going to have to pick up results between now and the end of the season. No one's got a crystal ball to say how many, but it's going to have to be at a greater rate than we have up until this point, and it's only us who can control that.

“What other teams do we can't control. I think internally, it's not that different. Externally, I think there's certainly a very different context around a team that is fighting for a goal that is at the top of the table versus a team that is fighting for a goal that is at the other end of the table.

“The perception around it is very, very different, but in the end the outcome can feel pretty similar and probably at the bottom end of the table the narrative can change even quicker.

“I think at the top end of the table if you're going for something and you don't win a game, then you're still just below your target and it doesn't feel too bad. If you're going for automatic promotion and you're just off of that, you're still in the play-offs, for example. 

“At the bottom end of the league you're not where you want to be and if we'd won a couple of tight games on fine margins we'd seem to be in a fantastic position and it's a little bit more all or nothing so to speak.

“The context on the outside is a little bit different I think. Our mindset, our processes internally are not very different.”

Asked whether the balance between picking up points and performances changes as the end of the season gets closer given the position Town find themselves in.

“Of course, when you get to the end stage of the season, if you can pick up good results, you may think a little bit more short term,” he said.

“If you're at the start of the season and you're picking up some results but from poor performances you're glad of the points, but you also know that from a longer term it's not going to lead you where you want to get to.

“The feel does change a little bit, of course, the later you get to the end of the season because there are fewer games ahead and the results feel more important, but again the best way, we believe, to get the points is to focus on performances and try and perform as well as you can in whatever the game plan is in that particular game.”

Photo: Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

backwaywhen added 16:24 - Mar 6 This man is pure class in his assessment of any given question fired at him …..you sir are a gentleman of the game .
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ArnieM added 16:35 - Mar 6 "You've got to trust that the authorities will make the appropriate decision" .....there we have it in a nutshell. The problem is we CANT trust the authorities, can we. Let's be honest here, we ALL KNOW the authorities will bottle it and ALLOW this player to get away with significant violent conduct events within a matter of weeks on the pitch. He SHOULD be banned for the rest of the season, but the " authorities" are gutless, and as much use as a chocolate teapot.

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ITFCson added 16:36 - Mar 6 No comment...and then proceeds to comment
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Dissboyitfc added 18:00 - Mar 6 He was asked about the charge and he didn’t comment on the charge! Total class as always!
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OldFart71 added 18:39 - Mar 6 If you could look back on my comments made with regards to people who continually worry about what other teams are doing you would see I totally agree with Mr. McKenna. Yes if one of our players is violent towards an oppositions player or staff and they were in a similar position as we are in that they were scrapping for survival then they would want our player given a long ban. It will be of little use to ourselves if the Wolves player is banned if we don't get two more wins than them. One being our game against them. But every player we lose through injury is making it harder and harder to put out a side capable of beating the ones we need to. We have had terrible luck with injuries that may or may not have altered the slim margins between winning and losing. Who knows. But it's in our hands. If we aren't good enough then we go again and the need will be for the team to be stronger.

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ArnieM added 20:57 - Mar 6 We actually need three wins due to the GD differential between us and Wolves.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 21:50 - Mar 6 Arnie we are only 5 points behind them. Two wins is 6 points
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armchaircritic59 added 00:56 - Mar 7 The wins we may or may not need will depend of course on Wolves dropping points in those games we actually win, otherwise it won't matter how many we win. Technically as things stand right now we could also draw the next 6 and if Wolves lose the next 6, we would be above them, though by then Leicester could be above us! To sum up, I guess it's pointless ( an ironic choice of words! ) on speculating about anything, what will be, will be.

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BerksBlue15 added 16:04 - Mar 7 Millwall keeper banned for six games for his Mateta challenge (where he gets the ball first) so Cunha's second violent outburst in the space of a few months has to be a minimum of six. Good news for us that we won't have to face him at PR. COYB
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