The Irish goalkeeper, who could do little about any of the three goals that condemned City to their first loss since September, is grateful that the chance to atone for Wednesday has come around quickly.
We have to put the Tottenham performance and result to bed, we have not had long to dwell on it with Sunderland coming up on us so we have a chance to get things looking up again.
...Shay Given...
He said, “It’s obvious that we have to get back to winning ways, and quickly. We know all about the draws we have had, but Wednesday was a huge disappointment, so it’s imperative we get a win on Saturday. Sunderland will now make it easy for us, we know it will be a tough game because it’s always tough in the Premier League, home or away.
“We need a big reaction to the way we played on Wednesday night to get three points against Sunderland. It’s a good thing to be playing again quickly and to get back on the horse, so to speak. We have to put the Tottenham performance and result to bed, we have not had long to dwell on it with Sunderland coming up on us so we have a chance to get things looking up again.”
Shay’s many years of Premier League experience come in handy when assessing the Black Cats’ strike force of Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones, who Shay had to cope with in several Tyne-Wear derbies.
“Jones is a real handful in the air and a big guy, but no bigger than Peter Crouch I suppose!” laughs Shay. “He has a real spring in him and is very, very strong while Bent has been banging in the goals all season. They are both very dangerous players and we will have to be right on our game at the back. It’s not just about the back four, we have to defend as a unit.”
City now have two home games in a row and being in front of their own fans is something Shay is urging his team-mates to take advantage of to the full.
“It’s important that we use our home advantage to get six points in these next two games. If we do that, things will look better in the table, this is always an important period so a maximum return could really kick us on into the new year,” he adds.
