Nobody displayed more guts, courage and skill on the pitch than ‘Psycho’ and he told the squad: “We’re going into an exciting period, for me. We’re playing two fantastic teams in the Manchester clubs, who are one and two in the league at the moment, here at London Stadium.
“We’ve got three out of the last four games at home and, with where we are in the division as well, it gives an opportunity to win a game and move up a few places.
” The big disappointment coming out of last weekend was that we played reasonably well for long periods of the game, but the defining mentality is the final seven or eight minutes and we all came away feeling very deflated, both as a squad and as a management team, but those types of games are great for learning.”
He added: “We face Manchester City on Sunday and we will be tested because we’re playing against an outstanding side in this division, but that’s the level you’ve got to attain to
“There’s no point setting your standards much, much lower – you’ve got to attain to the best team in the league and try to match them equivalently.”