Birtles Backs Swansea For Final Success
Garry Birtles Predicts Cracking Final |
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Sky Sports pundit Garry Birtles has predicted a great final tomorrow with Swansea and Barnsley both teams that "Like to play the game in the right manner and have players who are full of pace and will have a go" Birtles added "They are high tempo teams who will be able to keep going for the whole 90 minutes so it's tough to pick between them. Martin Devaney at Barnsley is a flying machine and could cause problems if they get the ball to him. But Swansea have Leon Britton and Andy Robinson on the wings and they are both attack minded. "I think if I had to choose a winner, it would just be Swansea as they have got the edge up front. But don't write off Barnsley. They beat Huddersfield in the semi-final and will be full of confidence and have nothing to fear." In the interview, which appeared in the Football League newsletter, both managers also looked forward to the game. Kenny Jackett said "You think about tactics when you go to bed at night. I've spent a lot of time looking at Barnsley. "I've just watched the videos of both our games against them this season and I watched the two semi-final games when we put out Brentford. "I'm trying to come up with a game plan off the back of all that. To be honest, planning and preparation is the best part of the game. Leon scored two great goals in the semi final so we will be hoping for more of the same. But it won't be easy. hey will have a game plan and we need to master that." Opposite number Andy Ritchie conceded that maybe Swansea have a slight edge when he said "They have a little bit of an advantage having already played there. They will have more fans than is because it is so close for them so it will be more like a home match. We know all about their forwards. With the likes of Lee Trundle on their bench it shows the firepower they have in their squad. "We had two close games in the League and we know we cannot afford to give them an inch. We can get goals through the likes of Daniel Nardiello and Martin Devaney. Both Kenny and I know our teams are capable of beating each other so it is going to come down to who can handle the occasion the best." What to read next:The hope of getting back into the Premier League automatically has long gone, but the season is not yet over and we now have a good chance of getting to Wembley and going up through the play offs, here we look at who we could meet. This should have been a celebratory day for Saints fans, there should have been a feeling of positivity, but the truth is that the fight has been knocked out of the supporter base and we go into the play offs with confidence both on and off the pitch at a low ebb. Southampton 0 - 1 Stoke City - Player Ratings and Reports
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