Garry Monk on what Sheffield Wednesday must stamp out as Manchester City roadshow rolls in

The individual errors that have blighted Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship season will be punished in double-time if they are to creep into their FA Cup clash with Manchester City.
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That’s according to Owls boss Garry Monk, who said his team will have to adjust their mindset in order to combat the reigning champions of England.

The Wednesday boss is expecting Pep Guardiola’s men to dominate the ball at Hillsborough and said the Owls will have to be on their mettle defensively, offering a better level of concentration against a side that forces mistakes.

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“We will not be allowed to make mistakes,” he said. “We’re not being afforded them in this period that we’re in, where we’ve made mistakes against – with no disrespect – lower quality teams and we’ve been punished.

“But we’re not going into it worried about mistakes. We’re going into it thinking about working in a certain way that we help ourselves defensively and in a certain way working offensively as well.

“Teams like Manchester City force mistakes regardless, they force every team they play against to make mistakes.

“You’d be stupid to go into the game thinking about that. We need to understand there are situations we’re going to have to face and work in a certain way to help ourselves in that and work in a certain way and conduct ourselves when we have the ball.”

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And the Wednesday boss was clear his side will go into the clash with a positive mindset despite errors costing them dear in recent matches.

He said: “I don’t talk to the players in a negative way, it’s not about fearing errors or fearing making a mistake on a football pitch. You try to give them the belief and confidence that they are good enough to compete, 100 per cent, and they are.

“You can do that against any team, in any situation, regardless of the quality.

“But we do know we’re going to face a lot of defensive actions against some quality players. We’re going to have to be on-point.

“hat’s the challenge, isn’t it? You have to challenge yourselves against the best teams, the best players.

“What better challenge to try to rise to that occasion?”