Albion boss Sami Hyypia has turned the heat on himself and away from his players for Friday night’s key clash against fellow Championship strugglers Millwall at the Amex.
The Seagulls are still in the relegation zone, two points and two places adrift of the visitors and safety, after conceding all the goals in the opening 20 minutes of the 3-0 defeat at leaders Derby County.
Hyypia is under mounting pressure following a run of one win in 16 league games. The Finn is happy for it to stay that way for fear of inhibiting the performance of his players against Ian Holloway’s Millwall side, who are desperate for a result as well in response to a 5-1 drubbing at home to Middlesbrough.
Hyypia told The Argus: “In our situation I think the importance of the next game is even higher but I would like to keep that importance maybe only for myself.
“I think the team will perform maybe better if they don’t have the extra pressure of thinking how important the next game is.
“There aren’t many players who perform better if the pressure is bigger.”
On-loan Darren Bent was the only striker available to Hyypia at Derby. Spaniard Adrian Colunga is back from a ban for the Millwall game but Sam Baldock is a doubt with a recurrence of thigh trouble.
The injury, sustained by Baldock in the previous away game at Norwich last month, flared up again in training after he was an unused substitute in the home defeat by Fulham.
Hyypia said: “He got a knock against Norwich and then somehow on Monday, when he came to training, he had some pain in his thigh. He couldn’t train for three days, then on Thursday he had an individual session and the pain came back.
“To lose three players from that area from the last game – LuaLua through injury, Colunga’s red card and then Sam Baldock – I think any team would be a bit thinner if that happened.
“But we have enough. Darren Bent has come here for a month and he’s a good player who can help us to win games. We couldn’t get balls to him as we would have liked and he was sometimes a bit alone up front.
Original article
The Seagulls are still in the relegation zone, two points and two places adrift of the visitors and safety, after conceding all the goals in the opening 20 minutes of the 3-0 defeat at leaders Derby County.
Hyypia is under mounting pressure following a run of one win in 16 league games. The Finn is happy for it to stay that way for fear of inhibiting the performance of his players against Ian Holloway’s Millwall side, who are desperate for a result as well in response to a 5-1 drubbing at home to Middlesbrough.
Hyypia told The Argus: “In our situation I think the importance of the next game is even higher but I would like to keep that importance maybe only for myself.
“I think the team will perform maybe better if they don’t have the extra pressure of thinking how important the next game is.
“There aren’t many players who perform better if the pressure is bigger.”
On-loan Darren Bent was the only striker available to Hyypia at Derby. Spaniard Adrian Colunga is back from a ban for the Millwall game but Sam Baldock is a doubt with a recurrence of thigh trouble.
The injury, sustained by Baldock in the previous away game at Norwich last month, flared up again in training after he was an unused substitute in the home defeat by Fulham.
Hyypia said: “He got a knock against Norwich and then somehow on Monday, when he came to training, he had some pain in his thigh. He couldn’t train for three days, then on Thursday he had an individual session and the pain came back.
“To lose three players from that area from the last game – LuaLua through injury, Colunga’s red card and then Sam Baldock – I think any team would be a bit thinner if that happened.
“But we have enough. Darren Bent has come here for a month and he’s a good player who can help us to win games. We couldn’t get balls to him as we would have liked and he was sometimes a bit alone up front.
Original article