MOWBRAY EXPLAINS EKWAH DECISION
BY THOMAS THORNTON
Tony Mowbray has offered his reasons for starting young, defensive midfielder Pierre Ekwah at Cardiff despite his error in the Hull game.
CONFIDENCE IN YOUTH
“You have to support young players. I'm trying to give him some gametime and get him some starts because he has taken on board some of the messages that he has had constantly for the last eight weeks or however long he's been here. I've been watching him and telling him again and again in training and the penny has dropped, but you then have to allow him to take it onto the pitch.”
COMPETITION
"But we've also got Edouard (Michut) who is a really talented boy, so we are looking at each particular game and what we think the team needs - if we need to be solid, disciplined and have a bit of physicality, it might be a day for Pierre, or if we think we're going to have lots and lots of the ball and play through the lines then it might be a day for Michut. We've also got Dan Neil, who balances it off. That's the mindset."
DEVELOPMENT
"We had to calm him down in training yesterday because he caught a few with tackles that, a month ago, he wouldn't have thought about making. I think the penny is dropping. It was great that he started against Burnley and we were the first team in a year to stop them from scoring at home and he was very much a part of that. He's been really positive, taking on board the information and I'm sure Pierre will have a big future as long as he keeps growing, keeps developing, and keeps working on his game."
BY THOMAS THORNTON
Tony Mowbray has offered his reasons for starting young, defensive midfielder Pierre Ekwah at Cardiff despite his error in the Hull game.
CONFIDENCE IN YOUTH
“You have to support young players. I'm trying to give him some gametime and get him some starts because he has taken on board some of the messages that he has had constantly for the last eight weeks or however long he's been here. I've been watching him and telling him again and again in training and the penny has dropped, but you then have to allow him to take it onto the pitch.”
COMPETITION
"But we've also got Edouard (Michut) who is a really talented boy, so we are looking at each particular game and what we think the team needs - if we need to be solid, disciplined and have a bit of physicality, it might be a day for Pierre, or if we think we're going to have lots and lots of the ball and play through the lines then it might be a day for Michut. We've also got Dan Neil, who balances it off. That's the mindset."
DEVELOPMENT
"We had to calm him down in training yesterday because he caught a few with tackles that, a month ago, he wouldn't have thought about making. I think the penny is dropping. It was great that he started against Burnley and we were the first team in a year to stop them from scoring at home and he was very much a part of that. He's been really positive, taking on board the information and I'm sure Pierre will have a big future as long as he keeps growing, keeps developing, and keeps working on his game."
