New York City Football Club Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing has revealed he is keen to put a performance in for the fans during Sunday’s Hudson River Derby.
The Red Bulls welcome NYCFC on Sunday afternoon in what will be a meeting of two sides near the top of the Eastern Conference. Having already met in the U.S. Open Cup this season both teams will be pushing for a victory, and Cushing is keen to deliver that for the fans both at home and in attendance at Red Bull Arena.
“Every time I've been to Red Bull Arena we've had that group that they put right up in the sky that is really loud,” Cushing said on Friday. “They’ve traveled to Red Bull Arena, and they're loud in Yankee Stadium. In whatever stadium we play we have that group of fans and we really rely on them, especially in the difficult moments, to push us over the line.
“For us, we want to put a performance in for them because we've been to Red Bull Arena and had some disappointing results in the past and for us to really put a performance in and to give everything for New York City Football Club and for them, I think is a real motivator this time around.”
The Boys in Blue head into Sunday’s game off the back of a midweek road win against FC Dallas, thanks to a goal from Héber. The result represented a second straight success for Cushing and his team, and the coach revealed after a positive week the mood in the camp is good heading into Sunday’s game.
“The mood in the camp has been really good,” Cushing said. “We went away to D.C. and Minnesota and got results. Of course then we have a change in coach and the players had some time to rest and coming back the mood was really good. We had a real conscious effort where we wanted to keep consistent and we wanted to settle the team down and the team were still enthusiastic. Obviously, coming off two wins and especially going away to Dallas in really difficult conditions and getting a win the group's in a really good place but also aware that a Red Bull game away at Red Bull Arena is going to be really difficult.”
