Nick Cushing confirmed his players and staff are excited to return to action at home this weekend.
New York City FC hosts FC Cincinnati on Saturday at Citi Field for Game 2 of the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Trailing 1-0 from Game 1, City must secure a win to extend their postseason run. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Cushing shared that his players are excited to be back home and eager to deliver a victory for the Club's supporters.
“We love playing at home in front of our people,” he explained.
“I said post-game - irrelevant of what happened in Cincinnati - we're now playing in front of our people, and that is where we play our best football, but we need everybody behind us.
“The players are incredibly hungry. They have a huge desire to win this football game and to make sure that we win the game with our people.
“They've been amazing all season. I can always go back to the Miami game [this season]. That was incredible.
“It was actually interesting because the Miami game at Yankee Stadium was an amazing game in front of our fans.
“Our fans delivered so much for us, but the last playoff game I did at Citi Field was also against Miami.
“That was an incredible atmosphere and a good performance from the team. We know that if we play well and we start well we get our people behind us, and that is our aim.
“We aim to make sure that we deliver for our fans, so that together we can create an incredible atmosphere.
City have been busy on the training field this week as they seek to secure a victory against Pat Noonan’s side.
Head Coach Cushing and his players have closely analyzed Monday's game, focusing on lessons learned. Speaking about their preparation, Cushing emphasized the importance of character as they head into Saturday's match.
“This week has been all about showing our character,” Cushing said.
“Our character with the ball, our character without the ball, the character that we have shown on multiple occasions this year in big football games.
“Now we have to deliver it from the first whistle in front of our people at Citi field. For me, it's about the crowd and the energy and our fans.
“They feed off the energy that we give them and the character that we show as a team. I've been really clear with the team this week that it is a must from the first whistle.”
You can purchase tickets to Saturday's game by clicking here.
