Nick Cushing believes his side must draw on their past road wins to propel them forward against Nashville SC.
New York City FC are in the middle of back-to-back road games this week, starting with a trip to California on Wednesday night to face the LA Galaxy. The Boys in Blue could not secure a victory against the Galaxy with attention now turning to Nashville tomorrow.
Cushing is eager to improve his team's road form this season and has already secured three wins away from New York in 2024. Saturday's clash at GEODIS Park is another chance to boost that points tally, and Cushing believes his side can draw on their past successes to inspire them tomorrow.
"I think at the start of the season, we had a huge desire to improve our away record," he said.
"We only won one game on the road last year. We drew a lot on those experiences to try and create a process and an understanding of how we get results on the road. Of late, we've had really good results against New England, at Toronto, and Philadelphia.
"This moment is no different. In LA, we had a good performance in parts but also areas we need to improve upon and we didn't get the result we wanted. We have to draw upon the experiences of those three wins moving forward into Nashville and beyond that because we want to solidify our league position with away wins.
"We'll also review and reflect on the LA Galaxy game and go into this Nashville game with confidence that we can get result."
City had lost just once in eleven games before defeat against the Columbus Crew last Friday, with that form pushing them into the top four.
Speaking on City's form, Cushing expressed his belief that despite a bump, the team can return to winning ways and have shown the ability to quickly string wins together during this season.
"It doesn't concern me because I think we've shown through the season the the ability to pick up form the ability to retain form," he said.
"As a coaching staff in a support team, we are very aware of how streaky our league is. When we won eight games on the spin we had a huge desire to continue to win but we also know that there are difficult periods - there's a hectic schedule, there are really difficult opponents in the league, and you're going to have moments when you're going to take dips in performance or not get results that you want.
"For us, it's about reviewing and reflecting on the performance and moving forward with the preparation going into the Nashville game to make sure that we almost perform the same way we did in those performances where we got wins."
The Boys in Blue have racked up the air miles this week after completing a cross-country trip to California before flying back east to Tennessee. A challenge for any side, Cushing discussed how that has impacted his team's preparations ahead of tomorrow.
"I think the amount of time you have to train is a little bit less," he said.
"The load that you can put into the team is a little bit less based on travel time, but the way that we prepare is very consistent. The process that we use is one we stick to, so in many ways, everything is very similar and we try and retain the same process.
"We have to adapt it based on travel and time zones and, obviously, and also the fact it is a three-game week."
