Cardiff coach Barry-Murphy is a rising starplaceholder image
Cardiff coach Barry-Murphy is a rising star | Getty Images
Cardiff City boss Brian Barry-Murphy has been speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Chelsea.
Cardiff have been in superb form in League One, currently four points clear at the top and looking strong candidates to secure instant promotion back to the Championship.
The Welsh side have actually won each of their last five league games, scoring three or more in four of those games, including a 99th minute 4-3 win over Doncaster Rovers over the weekend. Their attention now turns to the tricky task of trying to beat a Premier League big dog in Chelsea, who returned to winning ways with a pretty comfortable win over Everton over the weekend.
And as you would expect, there is a buzz around Cardiff as they prepare to welcome such big opponents to the Cardiff City Stadium, and with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.
“I think the anticipation for the game since the draw was made has been evident everywhere we've been,” Bluebirds boss Barry-Murphy said, as per WalesOnline. “We’ve tried to detach ourselves from that as much as possible while focusing on the league campaign. But now that it's here, the build-up is going to be incredibly exciting for everyone.
“For the players and myself, we still want to show ourselves in the best light and give a good account of ourselves. We’re playing against a team of the highest calibre, but this is exactly what you want — a chance to test yourself at the very highest level."
Barry-Murphy warns against offering too much respect
The impressive young Irish boss wants to respect those old friends, and indeed the rest of the Blues, but he wants his young squad to avoid being intimidated. “We have to respect them completely, but not be intimidated by that,” he added. “This is a chance for us to see what that level looks like and give it absolutely everything.
"The huge benefit of this game is we get a chance to put our players, so many them so young, into a game and an occasion that they won't have experienced before. So no matter what happens in the game we'll take a lot from it and really, more than anything, we're looking for those young players to flourish and to really show their personality and demonstrate the type of skill that they've showed throughout the course of the league campaign.
"Overawed is a good word - we have to try to make sure that we don't become overwhelmed by the level of opponents we're facing both individually and collectively and try and be as expressive as possible in all aspects of the game.
“We’re a very big club ourselves with a huge support base, and we want to give those fans something to feel exhilarated by.”
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