Bristol City keeper Frank Fielding says Robins will play it cool.. until the night they can make history against Manchester City
Former England U-21 star insists the Championship side are focused on Derby before they bid to reach Wembley in the Carabao Cup
BRISTOL CITY’S players are just four days away from a fixture that could change their lives for ever.
The Robins, having slain FOUR Premier League sides already, host Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday, with only a 2-1 deficit to overturn.
Marco Silva, Mark Hughes, Roy Hodgson and, of course, Jose Mourinho have all been humbled.
Tumble the mighty Pep Guardiola to reach Wembley and Lee Johnson’s squad will be the first Bristol City team to get to a major cup final since 1909.
Yet keeper Frank Fielding insists the potentially history-making clash could not be further from the players’ minds due to the trip to Derby tonight — a huge game in its own right.
The Robins ace, 29, told SunSport: “It’s been quite easy to keep our focus on the league, really.
“We don’t want to turn our attentions and lose our focus because we need a result. We’re not even really thinking about Tuesday.”
As brilliant as Bristol have been this term in league and cup, Johnson’s men have lost their last five games.
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A pessimistic Robins fan may be fearing the worst after last year’s mid-season collapse, when the team lost eight league games in a row and Johnson’s job was left hanging by a thread.
But Fielding believes City are made of sterner stuff this term, thanks in part to a pre-season trip to Tenerife.
Asked if there were any fears of a similar drop-off in form, Fielding replied: “Absolutely not and there’s no sense of that in the squad.
“If you look at last season to where we are now, we’ve made massive strides. We’ve improved as a squad and fair play to the gaffer.
“I always go back to pre-season where we went away to Tenerife for ten days and the gaffer set out his stall over how he wanted us to play.
“It was a very important trip for us. We took the style of play the gaffer wants to work with from pre-season into now and we’re getting the rewards for it.
“Obviously things haven’t gone to plan over the last few weeks but everyone has bad spells during the season.
“We have characters in the changing room who can turn things around just as quick so we’re looking forward to it.”
The benefits of a trip abroad echo what Fielding experienced under Nigel Clough at Derby.
The keeper had a spell at the Rams between 2010 and 2013, when the club were cutting costs following relegation from the Premier League.
Fielding reflected: “They were in transition when I played for them.
“We had an unbelievable team spirit and a really good social life. We did everything together as a team.
“Nigel Clough would take us on trips away. We went to Marbella and various other places in the international breaks.
“We went to Madrid once to watch Atletico and Barcelona.
“Trips like that brought us all together and probably made the difference in the end. We finished tenth and 12th which, on the budget he was on, was quite outstanding.
“It’s completely different now, they’re out of that.
“They have a passionate owner like ourselves. He’s from Derby, like our owner is from the Bristol area.
“He’s invested quite a lot like our owner, Mr Steve Lansdown, so it’s quite comparable in that respect.”
Fielding will have a chance to catch up with former team-mates Richard Keogh and Chris Martin when they lock horns tonight.
But it is his counterpart Scott Carson who he has been particularly impressed with this term.
Carson, 32, won the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for December and is arguably in the form of his life — to the point where an England recall has been mentioned and he has been rewarded with a new contract until 2020.
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Fielding, who was a shock selection for the Three Lions squad in 2010, added: “He’s the best keeper in the Championship. He’s someone I look up to.
"I’ve always watched his career and he’s been outstanding.
“I read something lately of him saying he’s a better keeper now than he was when he played in the Premier League.
“It goes to show that he’s older, more experienced and improved with time.
“He’s the best keeper in the league but I hope we can get the better of him on Friday.”
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