12 hours ago
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MOUNT PLEASANT Football Academy take a 1-0 advantage into their Concacaf Caribbean Cup final second leg against Universidad O&M at the National Stadium this evening at 7 p.m.
However, assistant coach Davian Ferguson said they will not rest on their laurels, intending instead to beat their Dominican Republic opponents again and claim their first hold on the trophy.
“We are not really thinking about the aggregate score. It’s a new game, and our focus is fixed on this game and trying to win this game.
“We (coaches) have said to the team continuously, we are leading the tie, but the job is not finished. So they (players) have to stay calm, disciplined and in control. And we want to stay true to our identity. Because we have one aim, and that is to finish the job.”
Ferguson expects the visitors to throw caution to the wind and come at them to get back an early goal, to get back in the tie. But he said they are prepared for all eventualities and ready to adjust if necessary.
“We are not going to be complacent. O&M is a good team. Each time we have seen them they have improved. But we are ready. We are prepared. They will come and give it as much as they can. But it’s a game we have to be ready for, and ready to adapt to whatever they might bring.
Even as the team adapts to what is in front of them, Ferguson believes, at home, they should be the ones dictating the pace of the game.
“We are at home. We want to be aggressive. We don’t want to sit back and rest on anything. But we are also mature enough to know how to manage these moments, these games.
“So while we are aggressive with the ball, there has to be some level of control; and that is important for us in terms of how we want to play,” he said.
Despite playing just three matches in the last month and a half, Ferguson believes the team showed they had no ill-effects from the lack of competitive fixtures, due to the league’s suspension after the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
“We have a particular way in how we work. So we were never worried about not playing for a long period. Because our squad is as competitive as you find.
“What we have internally is competition for places. The sessions are really intense. We push ourselves sometimes more than certain opponents might push us.
“So we know we have enough quality inside, and because our training is really intense, we bring a high level of work to the pitch.
“But the game is what refines everything. And not having that, one can argue, it took away a bit from the gloss of how we play.”
English (US) ·