MansionBet Match Preview: Brentford (A)
Posted: Thursday, December 31st 2020
Vyner aims to get City ‘back on track’
Thursday, December 31st 2020
City are keeping a positive attitude as they head into the New Year, Zak Vyner has told Robins TV.
The defender reflected on a “weird year” for everyone as City prepare to take on Brentford in West London on Saturday, January 2nd (3pm KO).
It comes off the back of defeat away to Luton Town but the Robins are keen to bounce back and start 2021 brightly as they look to rekindle a good run of form.
The Bees host the Robins at the Brentford Community Stadium, where they have only lost once all season. Thomas Frank’s side are unbeaten in their last 16 games in all competitions but that doesn’t faze Vyner.
The City Academy graduate said: “We know results haven’t been great. We want to do everything we can to rectify that and we are looking for consistency in our performances, in our results. It’s what we’re working hard for and we head into Saturday with the mindset of getting back on track.
“Everyone knows how crazy this league is and we’ve done it (bounced back from defeat) before, so there’s no way we should be thinking negatively. We have to go into every game positive, focus on us and hopefully we can get three points on Saturday.
“They (Brentford) are obviously a good team with good strikers. They’re a good side but we focus on us and try and implement our game plan as we always try to do. They’re a tough team on a good run of results but we go there and try as best as we can to stop that.”
Football says goodbye to 2020, a year which saw the game suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has prevented supporters from attending Ashton Gate since March. The club has felt the impact of the virus in many ways, though on the pitch it has been a year to remember for Vyner, who has become a regular starter under Dean Holden.
He returned from loan at Aberdeen with a shoulder injury but found himself involved in the first team during the 2019/20 restart in the summer. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.
He said: “It’s definitely been a weird year! It’s been good but also very bad due to the pandemic. Personally it’s been a good year: I’ve kicked on in terms of my game time and my football so I’m definitely happy with that though obviously, it’s been a very strange year.
“It’s been wild in terms of when I came back [from loan at Aberdeen] I didn’t know if I was going to get any game time at all. I was just focusing on getting fit but I got a few games at the end of last season. I’ve kicked on, I want to carry on. I’m not thinking about my injuries now and I want to go on from here.”
Regular game time as well as learning from the experienced players around him have been beneficial to Vyner’s abilities. The experienced Adrian Mariappa has been one influence, while the defender adds the competition for places can only help him push himself further in 2021.
Vyner continued: “Mapps has come in, he talks to us a lot, he helps us and he’s been a real added bonus to the team. He shows the experiences he has, he’s a good lad and a good addition to the squad.
“Of course healthy rivalry is what you want in a squad and we’ve been short of that. We’ve had to do the best with we have, in terms of there are no excuses and we keep going but with the boys coming back, that will spur everyone on.”
Robins TV
Brentford versus City will be streamed live on Robins TV. The programme will cost £10, with the livestream consisting of multi-angle and a multi-replay production which gets underway at 2.30pm.
Create your Bristol Sport Club Account now to make sure you are ready for Tuesday night. You can buy your pass at any time in advance of the match - come matchday all you have to do is login to Robins TV and hit “Watch Live”.
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