Keogh after automatic promotion

30 November 2010 09:46
The only way is up according to City defender. Coventry City right back Richard Keogh has said he is eyeing up automatic promotion after the Sky Blues promising first quarter of the season. Coventry have not alway played well under Boothroyd, but they have managed to win games which, in the past, they would probably have lost and consequently they are now in sixth place in the Npower Championship. Keogh has played a significant part in Coventry City's upturn in fortunes this season. After a losing run of three games on the trot, Coventry stopped the rot with a dour, hard fought home win against Burnley and followed that with a dominant away performance to beat Scunthorpe 2-0. Keogh is determined now to make it three wins on the trot with a home win over struggling Middlesbrough next Saturday. Keogh said, “It was important to bounce back from the three defeats and a lot of people would say we played better in those defeats than our last two games. We didn’t play particularly well against Burnley but we won and it is a sign of a good team when you can bounce back from set-backs." “We have got good players here and that is what the manager has installed in us to string wins together and now we are looking upward and trying to chase down the top two. We know what points target we want to get to and we will keep that in camp and keep going about our business." “We have got two wins and we want to make it three against Middlesbrough on Saturday and then four and five and chase down QPR and Cardiff because the league is wide open and with the squad we have got we think we can be in the top two. We will keep working hard on the training pitch and look forward to every game.” Looking back on the 2-0 win at Glanford Park last Saturday,  Keogh said: “It was a great result and very professional performance.  We knew it was going to be a tough game because Scunthorpe are a good side and maybe their results haven’t shown that." "We went there to do a job and stuck to our game plan and overall I thought we deserved it.  I thought we defended well from the front and as a back five, so I was really pleased with our performance." “We knew about their poor home record so that was definitely part of our game plan and we worked hard on it in training all week. The manager set out our game plan to get at them and I think we grew into the game well." “We probably would have liked to have started a bit quicker than we did but once we got into the game and Gary McSheffrey got the goal I thought there would only be one winner." "I have played here a few times when I was at Bristol and Carlisle so I knew what a difficult place it is. It is like an old school ground where the crowd are right on top of you, but the atmosphere is great and you know you have to be on your game because if you don’t turn up you can get turned over, but we went there and were a strong unit and worth our victory.” Keogh was involved in the move that led to the opening goal scored by Gary McSheffrey. He said, “It was nice to be involved in Gary’s goal.  It was a nice move from Doyler to Aron to myself and I managed to pick out Kingy, and the way it has been going for him I thought it wasn’t going to be his day again, but fortunately Sheffs was at the right place at the right time to follow up and that’s what he is all about. I think he shinned it a bit but lucky for us it went in. I was on the overlap and that’s what I try to bring to the team.” Keogh played opposite a former City player Freddy Sears, who was on loan from West Ham last season and is now on loan at Scunthorpe. He was pleased to have kept the West ham striker quiet and out of the game.. “The lads told me all about him before the game and I knew that he was a sharp guy so I was pleased with my performance against him,” said Keogh, “but, more importantly, it was a team performance and it is always nice to get the three points and get back on the bus with a victory.”

Source: FOOTYMAD