By Tim Hodges from the Amex Press Briefing
Gus Poyet said today that Spanish star Vicente Rodriguez will start for the Albion as many times as possible, if match fit.
Poyet suggested that Vicente has now overcome his injury problems and has trained all week.
Poyet was delighted that the former Valencia star was involved in Albion’s last-minute winner on Saturday against Leicester City.
The Seagulls boss is mindful of the new management set up at Leeds but said that this would not necessarily change the way that Albion approach the game.
The Albion will not be changing the way that they play, according to the boss, whether it be at home or away, nor will venue determine the players used.
The intention is to win every game from now on.
The game plan will not change if the Seagulls play Leeds or even – hypothetically – Real Madrid. He made it clear that he does not like asking players to change their approach from one week to the next, saying that he prefers the team to be consistent in the way that they play
Poyet has not got a minimum position in his mind yet of where he would like the Albion to finish this season. He is mindful, however, that the last time the club played Liverpool they subsequently had a bad run of form.
Poyet was as surprised as anyone at Fabio Capello’s resignation from the England manager’s position yesterday.
However, he did appear further surprised that the authority to name his captain had been taken away from Capello himself and suggested that the next England manager will have had the decision about who to make captain already made for him.
On Albion’s injury front Poyet mentioned that Craig Noone and Kazenga LuaLua were available for Saturday, and acknowledged both his and Will Buckley’s nominations for Championship manager and player of the month.
At the end of the briefing, Poyet jokingly responded to a question about Crawley’s FA Cup run and about the possibility of playing them in the sixth round. He said that he would rather play them in the final at The Amex.
