Just four games remain in Orlando City B’s season. The team sits just in the playoff hunt in 8th place and with three of their final games at home, the team understands their need to get results down the stretch.
“We just gotta get back to basics,” OCB defender Conor Donovan said at training, “Obviously the last two losses were tough, but I think once we back to just defending, keeping the ball a little bit better and just be more aggressive going forward and I think we’ll be alright.”
As much as the current standings are a talking point, it’s easy to get distracted. Head Coach Anthony Pulis knows his team needs to get results to make the playoffs, but within the game, he wants his players focus in the moment and getting points out of every game going forward.
“You try not to spend too much time looking at it and I think we communicate that message to the players as well,” Pulis said, “It’s about us in the day and what we do him and we need to see if we can pick some points up between now and the end of the season over the remaining four games. If we can perform like we did on Saturday against Saint Louis then we won’t have any complaints from me.”
With such a young roster, Pulis always makes sure his players stay in a level mindset after wins and losses, approaching each practice and game the same way as any other. Never getting to high after wins and getting too low after losses. Keeping that mentality in such pressure situations can help a young roster such as OCB’s as they push for that playoff spot.
“Once we finished the video debrief yesterday after the Saint Louis game, a line was drawn under that game.” Pulis said, “The focus was straight on Charleston and first and foremost making sure that we we train properly this week and we have full really good, bright, intense days of training.”
OCB next play the Charleston Battery on Saturday following the Orlando Pride game as they take on the Portland Thorns. Kickoff for the USL game is scheduled for 7:30.
