Ahead of Wednesday's London derby with rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Slaven Bilic faced the press.
During the briefing, the manager fielded a range of questions...
Good morning Slaven, can you start with the team news for tomorrow’s game?
“Diafra Sakho has been training with us for a few days now; we will see today how he is, if he is ready. He might be in the squad tomorrow. We are without Sam Byram through suspension; it is hard to imagine a player of his stature getting ten bookings, he is also cup-tied so we will be without him for a few games so we need to find a solution to that.”
Your side are in a good run of form at the moment, you must be delighted?
“Well yes, particularly our home form has been very good recently and we want to do everything we can to keep this run going.
“We are playing pretty well, of course we can improve and that’s what we are trying to do.”
A big part of your run has been the few goals conceded, has that been a conscious effort?
“You have done your homework! We have not said ‘We cannot concede goals’, because the way we play does give teams the opportunity, but there is a balance to be found, and recently I think we are getting close to that. Of course, the more clean sheets you get the more points you get.
“Valencia and Reid could be back soon, in the next few weeks. Then we hope Tomkins and O’Brien will be back before the international break.”
A quick word on Michail Antonio, after a slow start he’s really firing now and what did you make of his celebrations after he scored against Sunderland?
“Well it wasn’t a slow start but he had to wait for his first start. He has worked very, very hard, and he has had to wait, he didn’t moan or sing, then he got his chance which he took. His pace and energy was always there, now tactically he is also getting there and he is a very important player for us.
“I am a big fan of the Simpsons and saw his celebrations. To see him connected with Homer Simpson - no connection between the two. Homer is lazy. Michail is a workaholic. But I enjoyed his celebration.”
And Tottenham, can they win the league?
“Well yes of course they can. They are there and it is only 11 games to go so why not? They are playing good football, they look hungry, so yes. The only problem might be all the fixtures but Pochettino is experienced enough to know how to handle that.”