‘Shared purpose gives us best chance of success’ – Holden

City are looking to bounce back quickly after Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City, with a trip to Deepdale against Preston North End on Saturday (March 2nd, 3pm KO).

The squad remain focused on the task at hand and continue to pull together and work for each other, Holden believes.

The City assistant head coach said: “As staff we are meticulous in our preparation and we pride ourselves in that. Players want to get themselves back on the pitch as quickly as possible after a bad result, it’s about doing what you do best and put it to bed.

“We’re driven towards a shared purpose, whether as a player who is starting or not in the team, everybody is as important. That shared purpose and goal of success is what we focus on.

“The players are committed to be their best every day, be that their attitude, helping others or driving standards. They drive that in the dressing room, the staff drive that behind the scenes.

“It’s a daily habit of being a good person, working hard and giving absolutely everything every day, whether you’re in the gym, on the training pitch or a matchday and we have a lot of quality in the squad. We’ll pull all of that together and we’ll have a great chance of success.”

Tuesday’s defeat hurt the squad but the relentless nature of the Championship means attentions quickly turn to the next match, something which Bailey Wright sees as a benefit.

And Holden also says the trip north this weekend is “another chance to put things right in the next game.”

“Apart from the international break, there are a lot of Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday games up to the end of the season so we have to be resolute in our preparation and focus on the next match,” Holden said.

“We’re still hurting from Tuesday but at the same time we want to use our energy and what we can control into getting a good result against Preston.”

He added: “There’s a lot of noise on the outside. It’s the business end of the season and every game is so important. Three points are available in every game and we lost three points against Birmingham. Now we focus on Preston and getting the three points, that’s all we’re focussed on and it’s about those daily habits and the ability to focus quickly on the next game.”

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