Defeat at Cardiff City on Saturday has potentially altered how Tom Cleverley will approach Tuesday night’s game against Cheltenham Town.
Having had a positive week, with a league win over Blackpool followed by a strong performance against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup, the 4-0 loss against Cardiff was a bit of a morale-sapper.
There are no guarantees of anything against Cheltenham, when they visit; we are all aware of how English cup competitions can go. However, a home game against a side bottom of the division below has to be seen as an opportunity to pick up a win at a good time, with another home league fixture, against Stockport County, on the horizon on Saturday.
“I think the game has taken on a level of importance, for sure,” said Cleverley. “We're all winners on the staff, so we want to win every game that we go into. But I think this game's taken on a level new level of importance.
“It's important to me that we get into the habit of winning football matches. We want our forward players to get the confidence of goals and assists, so we’re approaching the game very, very seriously.
“With a view to the weekend, we want people to get confidence. I'm not disrespecting Cheltenham at all. They'll come here, they'll be a tough test. They almost got a great result on Friday night at Salford, and I'm not saying that they're just here to roll over.
“It won’t be easy for us. We're going to have to work hard to create our chances, but I expect us to dominate the ball, and I expect us to get into areas to create more than we are doing right now.
“I'd expect to see a real dynamic performance. Individually, you try to use these cup competitions to get a little bit of form or rhythm. It's important for us that we do that.”
