Sports Psychologist Helped Us

Bristol City's use of a sports psychologist helped us be positive, says Peter Odemwingie

Bristol City's players have taken to some mind games in an attempt to secure their Championship status.
Eager to utilise every means at his disposal to try to stave off the lingering threat of relegation between now and the end of the season, Robins head coach Lee Johnson has engaged the services of a sports psychologist.
During a recent session at the club's Failand training ground, the players were encouraged to be aspirational and think of themselves as Premier League stars in the making.
New loan signing Peter Odemwingie already knows what it takes to play at the highest level and the Stoke forward is convinced such sessions will help engender self-belief within the squad.

He revealed how the power of positive thought contributed to City's 6-0 thrashing of basement club Bolton Wanderers before the two-week break for international matches and insisted such methods will serve to give Johnson's charges the confidence needed to upset the odds at promotion-chasing Hull City this Saturday.
"We had a session with a sports psychologist and he asked us to see ourselves as aspiring to the Premier League," said the 34-year-old Nigeria World Cup star.
"He encouraged us to think in that way and it was something we discussed before the Bolton game. It will encourage us to raise our standards and it has already had a positive impact.
"It is not one of the basics, but you know that, sometimes, you need to remind yourself of where you want to get to. That is especially the case when you might relax and risk losing a game.

"This club has an ambitious young manager with a lot of potential, a good group of players and should be looking to reach the next level. The talk we had was designed to make everybody think of themselves as potential Premier League players.
"When the club is planning big things ahead, it is always good to remind the players from time to time during the season. The players have to believe that they are going places."
Since he arrived on loan from Stoke earlier this month, Odemwingie has been pleasantly surprised by the quality shown in training sessions at City's Failand headquarters.
Although the Robins remains six points clear of the relegation zone and probably require at least four wins from their final eight games to be sure of retaining their status, the Stoke striker feels City have the quality needed to climb the table. He said: "I expected the players to be of a good level in the Championship, but I did not think they would be so good. I have been surprised in a good way.
"The coach is very demanding and the skill level among this group of players is very high. We have played 11-a-side games in training and the ability level is very high. They keep it well, they pass it well and you can see that the quality is there.
"I have seen a lot of desire and been very impressed by how concentrated the players are in the finishing sessions we have in training. They do everything right."
Having registered their biggest win of the season against Bolton to at least afford themselves breathing space, City next face a tough fixture against a Hull team that is still in with a chance of winning automatic promotion.
In-form Rotherham visit Ashton Gate three days later and Odemwingie acknowledged City could be dragged back into the relegation battle. He added: "We have talked about creating a bigger gap between ourselves and the teams behind us and we don't want to leave ourselves with a mountain to climb by not getting results against tough opposition.
"We need to play Hull with the same attitude we took into the game against Bolton."


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