Johnson says belief will be key

That was the message from Lee Johnson ahead of City’s Sky Bet Championship fixture away to Wigan Athletic (January 11^th, 3pm KO).

The league encounter comes three days before the squad travel to Shrewsbury Town in a winner-takes-all-showdown in the Emirates FA Cup, with Liverpool the reward in the fourth round.

Johnson is fully aware that recent form could be better and he wants his players to draw on their comprehensive Luton Town win just two weeks earlier and come back from this week’s break refreshed and full of belief.

He said: “I think we’ve got to believe first and foremost. The players have to believe in the system, the unit and each other. The domino effect of each one of those individual actions and moments in the game being successful, creates that confidence and builds that momentum  to what should be a very good performance.

“Certainly, going in those game there are no excuses in terms of I expect the boys to bright, busy and to be buzzing.

“We have a great week coming up and if we can be successful then everybody will be delighted. The next game is the most important but at the same time it doesn’t mean we can’t look forward and we know the prize.

“That is playing probably the best club in the world (Liverpool) at the moment and that is what we truly want. We want to give it to the fans, we want to be successful for them and I think it’s a great chance for us to go and do that again.”

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