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‘With all respect to my players no one is irreplaceable’ - Tough love from Farke to spark City revival
Emi Buendia started the previous Premier League game against Everton on the bench Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Daniel Farke is not out to win any popularity contest as he tries to buck the odds at Norwich City in the Premier League.
The Canaries’ chief might be down to the bare bones, in terms of defensive options for Wednesday’s Arsenal test behind closed doors at the Emirates, but the head coach has already shown he will not shirk the big selection calls since the resumption.
Teemu Pukki, Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia were all benched for the previous top-flight encounter against Everton, as Farke tries to spark a late revival.
“We need all our players. They know I back them,” he said. “With all respect to my players no one is irreplaceable. We don’t have Lionel Messi in our team. We have good players, good characters but we need unity and togetherness.
“Todd, Emi and Teemu have been unbelievably important for us but if you are honest you would not say we have one player who without them we can’t win a football match.
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“Confidence is always plays a big part and that is the same for top class sides. Once you find that and some momentum you can match them, so we hope the FA Cup gives us some benefits for these last stages.”
Arsenal counterpart, Mikel Arteta, is warning the Gunners can expect a desperate City as they seek points in their relegation battle.
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“They know the difference between playing in the Championship and the Premier League, and they fought really hard to be where they are,” he said.
“I’m expecting a fully committed team and they are really brave with the way they play. They cause you problems and I’m expecting again a very honest team that is going to fight for their lives to try to give them a better chance to stay in the league.
“We really want to play at home. That’s where we enjoy more, but obviously not having the fans within is a tremendous disadvantage. We want to give them happy moments and enjoyment and at the moment we cannot do that just by seeing them as they have been watching on television. But it’s what we have at the moment.”