Football Daily - The Debrief: Big win for Thomas Frank and Manchester City stunned in Norway

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

Kelly Cates is joined by Alistair Bruce-Ball, former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson, Mike Minay and former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson to review Tuesday's Champions League action,Under-pressure Tottenham boss Thomas Frank led his injury hit side to a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, you can hear from the Spurs manager and the BBC's senior football reporter Sami Mokbel.Manchester City were stunned in the Arctic Circle, losing 3-1 to Bodo/Glimt who secured their first ever win in the competition - Hear from Pep Guardiola and Norwegian football commentator Bjarne Brandal.Mike Minay and Matt Upson reflect on Arsenal's 3-1 win in the San Siro which secured the Gunners a top-two finish in the league phase.You can also hear from Frank Lampard and Kieran McKenna after important Championship wins for Coventry and Ipswich over Millwall and Bristol City respectively.00:30 - Tottenham 2-0 Borussia Dortmund 06:14 - Thomas Frank reaction 11:30 - Sami Mokbel on Thomas Frank's future 17:00 - Bodo/Glimt 3-1 Manchester City 18:30 - Pep Guardiola reaction 23:10 - Norwegian football commentator Bjarne Brandal 27:30 - Inter Milan 1-3 Arsenal 29:55 - Coventry 2-1 Millwall reaction 31:39 - Ipswich 2-0 Bristol City reaction

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. To embrace the impossible requires a vehicle that pushes what's possible. Defender 110 boasts a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms, a weighting depth of 900 millimeters and a roof load up to 300 kilograms. Learn more at Landrover.ca. On the Football Daily podcast, The Debrief with Kelly Cates. It was a big night in the Champions League with mixed results for the English sites. Spurs and Thomas Frank got a crucial 2-0 win against Burecia Dortmund to go fourth in the Champions League table with just one match left to play.

Earlier, Burdo Glimt shocked Manchester City. They beat them 3-1. Arsenal continued their 100% run in the Champions League. They won away at the San Ciro 3-1. All of that to come, but we'll start with Alistair Bruce Ball, who was watching at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for us. How did they get the win, Ali? Well, three days. Feels like an awfully long time in football, doesn't it, Kelly?

because here on Saturday after the defeat against West Ham, that late goal they conceded you had thousands of disgruntled Spurs fans seeing at their own manager, you're getting sacked in the morning. And tonight in added time, they were chorusing their own team towards victory with when the Spurs come marching in. Their first win in sex games, an absolute must win for the manager Thomas Frank,

given the pressure he was under. And actually, it was one of those nights. When you're under pressure like that, you need the rubber the green, the run of the ball to go for you. and for the two Spurs goals, it did, and for the Brousia Dortmund sending off as well, which really helps Spurs on their way. First goal came from Christian Romero. That started with a miscue by Wilson Odderbe.

He was trying to score with a worldly of a volley. But that touch from him set him up to be able to cross the ball in, found Romero. He stuck it into the back of the net. Then Daniel Svensson got sent off. The referee saw that challenge live on the field. Initially gave it as a yellow card. VAR decided to intervene and felt that the contact was high enough on the leg

to upgrade that to a red card. And then you've got the remarkable. I mean, you've got to see this Dominic Salanki finish. I've no idea how this ball ended up in the back of the net. But his first goal of the season, you know, he won't care how it did. Cross in from the right again. Got his feet in a tangle. Kick the ball from his right foot onto the heel of his left foot,

back onto his right foot and inadvertently really into the bottom corner. And that was it. I mean, we don't really need to talk about the second half. Spurs started it very sluggishly. You'd expect the nerves as well. They were just desperate to get over the line. They did. That is the crucial thing for them.

Fourth in the Champions League table. But I think more importantly, Thomas Frank just had to win the game. They did win the game. Yeah, we don't need to talk about the second half. And frankly, there's not that much to say about the second half in that game. Former tournament England goalkeeper Paul Robinson alongside Ali joins us now, as does former Arsenal and England defender, Matthew Upsen.

Paul, let's start with you. apart from the performance and we will look at that but just the importance of the win for Tottenham and the importance of the win for Thomas Frank. I think it's hugely important for Thomas Frank. I mean, I said before the game, I'm a big advocate for giving a good coach

and a good manager time. He was seen as the right man for the job in the summer and you don't go from 17th in the Premier League last season to challenging for European places, Champions League places at the top upper echelands of the Premier League overnight. Yes, he's had one. He's in the midst of his second transfer window.

He needs to bring players in. There's a dressing room there. There's a squad that's hugely overbalanced in certain areas. And there's players that have to take responsibility for the performances that they've been given in recent weeks. And actually, the money that they've grossly overspent on wrong players and wrong signings, Thomas Frank has been the victim of that to some extent. There's been a number of injuries, a number of suspensions, a number of players missing.

But I think tonight's the only game that he could point his finger at those players that he's got missing. 13 players that he would have potentially selected into his starting 11 this evening, or certainly would have had a case, were missing. And the players that he selected tonight, it was just one of those games. Before the kickoff, you looked at the Dortmund team's record, unbeaten in seven games coming into tonight. Everything was stacked against Tottenham.

The atmosphere was so toxic here at the weekend. The game kicked off. The stadium was, it wasn't half empty. It was probably three quarters full. The Tottenham fans certainly voted with their feet. And those that did come expected an underwhelming performance. and potentially to be rolled over by a Dortmund team that were in form. Complete opposite in the first half, even when it was 11 against 11.

He got a tune out of those players and it was a massive, massive victory for Thomas Frank this evening. I think it's a platform for him now to build on. Europe was a safe haven for Tottenham last season. As we know, the reigning Europa League champions, hence the reason they're in the Champions League. Premier League form and performances is nowhere near where they should be. But actually now the question will still be there for Thomas Frank and whether he should be the manager of Tottenham. They go to Burnley at the weekend.

That's the biggest test. That's going to be a huge test for them. And opinions do change so quickly. But for now, Matt, the conversation has changed a bit around Thomas Frank. Yeah, evening, Kelly. It has. And that fixture at the weekend is an interesting one, isn't it?

Because it just feels to me like he's having to work really hard to get consistency out of this group of players that at times are being very young. And going away in a fixture like that after a glossy Champions League evening at home, that's going to stand out as to whether you've got the mentality, the character,

to want to go and be successful in the Premier League. And that for me is where Spurs have suffered. I think he's laid a lot of really good foundations, Thomas, Frank, and it's boring stuff. It's stuff that isn't going to get the crowd off their seat, like set plays. They're now very, very good at set. plays like clean sheets, six of their seven wins in the Premier League have been to

nil. So he's building something, but like Robo said, it's going to take a little bit of time. He's going to have to kind of remove the players or move players on that are not going to tow the line in what he wants to do and being disruptive possibly and getting some players in certain positions that are going to strengthen the team. And it's going to take a couple of windows. And, you know, there's progress there, but it's intermittent. and then it takes a little backward step

and all the pressure heaps on the manager. And I think he's feeling that. I don't think it's an easy place to be for him at the moment. We can hear now from Spurs boss Thomas Frank. It really enjoyed performance and the win, of course. I think especially first half. I felt we were very good. I think we started exceptional well.

On top of them, pressed them, calm on the ball, produce chances, create opportunities, scored a good goal and kept going and then scored the second goal, which of course is also super important. So especially everything about first half I was extremely happy with. I think it's definitely some of the best we've done.

Second half, I would love just to keep the ball a bit butter. Love to kill it with some of the big chances, just the 3-0. But we know in football it's never easy, even you play 11 against 10. Also because the momentum is they have to push a bit. And then of course we all knew it was an important win to get. And especially at home, of course we haven't been as confident. So the performance and the win can we build on.

And then I ask for the fans to help everyone, especially the team and the players. and they were exceptional, especially the first half. You feel, you felt it was that one of these, how can you say, a little bit special European nights. You felt the energy was quite unique. So that was very nice. What about the performance though, Paul? Was it an improvement?

Certainly on the weekend, but was it one of the better performances under Thomas Frank, do you think? Yeah, it was. And it wasn't the performance that I for one was expecting. When you look at the recent results, the home performance against West Ham. Listen, no disrespect to West Ham or any of the teams that you're going to talk about. But West Ham are a team that are struggling this season.

You know, they're in the bottom three in the Premier League. They're coming to Tottenham at the weekend, and you're expecting from a Totten point of view, you win that game. The away defeat against Bournemouth, 3-2, the conceding goals, and they're very susceptible, they're very fragile, and they're not where you would want them to be. When you look at the money spent on the team and the squad, it's been a big investment into the squad,

but has it been a wise investment? I don't think it has been for a number of years now. And I think Thomas Frank is completely the opposite of reaping the rewards of that. He's bearing the brunt of it and he's getting the frustration of the supporters. And actually when the supporters were singing you're getting sacked in the morning at the weekend, I think normally in this situation, all the eyes in the stadium turned towards Daniel Levy. He's not here anymore. So, you know, the frustration when Tottenham were not doing well,

Daniel Levy was the one that got the brunt of it. And then questions were asked about recruitment, sporting directors, players that were coming in. actually now at the front of the helm is at the front of the ship is Thomas Frank and he's the one that's getting the brunt of it but he's proven that he's been a good manager to get this job and it's a phrase that I use all the time

the greatest gift you can give a good manager a good coach is time and I hate this Matti'll love this comparing Tottenham to Arsenal you look at what they've done with Mikkel Artetta he's been there such a long time now but they've given him the keys to the office he's had the keys to the dressing room

the stadium the team he's made big decisions. His first decision, the Bamayang in that dressing room, out, don't want him in the dressing room. He's made big decisions. Ozil, another one, out. I don't know him in the dressing room.

I'm going to do this. It's going to take time and I'm going to do it my own way. And I believe that Thomas Frank is in a similar situation to that. But we are very guilty in modern day football. Oh, we haven't won in seven games. Get the manager out.

He's not right. There's a lot of other factors that affect this football club than the manager. Did Dortmund help them tonight, Robo, in terms of their start? Do you think they started quite slowly, allowed spurs, a bit of rhythm and,

I think Tottenham started on the front foot and actually, you know, they took the game to Dortmund, which I was surprised about. They didn't look like a team that lacked confidence. And like Ali said in commentary, Tottenham got their breaks.

I mean, the first goal came from an Odurber mishit that he tried a volley that came down from the sky, managed to keep close control of the ball, put it across the six yard box. And I don't know if you've seen Salanki's finished,

but that will never ever be repeated in football again. Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. Honestly. And then the sending off, obviously, help them. But the sending off didn't help me. You know it's like when you're playing against 10 men. At that point, the game was won.

But it was up to Tottenham to keep the tempo, to keep the pace of the game. They didn't do that. They rotated possession, they kept possession, and they got over the line with 10 men just to get the result. You don't often see a manager come back from where Thomas Frank was on Saturday. With thousands of his own fans singing at him, you're getting sacked in the morning. Then you get into the stadium tonight, and there are thousands of empty seats. Spurs fans voting with their feet.

their most high profile Champions League fixture of the season and the Spurs fans can't be bothered to turn up. That's not good for Thomas Frank either. But all he could do tonight was put a team out there and it was the only team who could pick but get a performance out of them. They started well. Not great in the second half,

but it didn't matter and get the win. We don't know, do we, whether it's going to be enough to save his job. But the next game is Burnley away and that now becomes the massive game. But in terms of the Champions League campaign, four home wins out of four and sitting fourth in the table going into the last round of fixtures. But you're right, it's a really difficult position for Thomas Frank to come back from.

And BBC Sports Senior Football Correspondent, Sammy Mochbel, joins us now. Sammy, you're one of the people who wrote this week. It's a matter of when, not if, Thomas Frank loses his job. And it's certainly, that was very much the word coming out of Tottenham earlier in the week. Does it change? Does anything change as a result of today? Hi, Kelly. Look, I think it's a case of pressure relief tonight, but by no means is Thomas Frank out.

of the woods after tonight's victory. Obviously, they go to Burnley on the weekend. And as the lads have alluded to there, I think in many ways, that's the bigger game for Thomas Frank, because despite tonight's performance and result and credit to them, they pulled up a performance for their manager.

But if they go, you know, if they lose to Burnley at the weekend, then he's right back under the kosh. And I think that will be the problem moving forward for Thomas Frank. He's always one defeat away from, a crisis and I think the Tottenham board are aware of that they are aware of all of the the I guess the difficulties and the problems that need sorting with the squad but I think they're also aware of the um shall we say ill feeling towards Frank for from the supporters and I think that will be

a difficult one for Thomas Frank to navigate yeah because the the expectation well certainly in the the early days after the defeat by West Ham was that Thomas Frank wouldn't even be in charge for this game this evening and then if he was going to be in charge for this game this evening

he wouldn't be in charge against Burnley at the weekend. Where are we with that? Yeah, look, I think if they'd lost tonight, I think the top of the border would have had to have made a serious decision so we say over the next 24 hours

but I can't, Despite not being out of the woods, I think it would be harsh on Thomas Frank if they would, if they press the button on his tenure now ahead of the weekend. But as I say, I don't believe he is out of the woods. I think he will still be under internal scrutiny at Topham, given the overwhelming start that he'd had to his career there. And a defeat against another team that's threatened with relegation this weekend. And then, you know, he's, I think we're all asking the same questions again. And the question, the Tottenham hierarchy, need to ask themselves is, can we go through this narrative every single weekend, every midweek,

every time we lose a game? Is it, you know, can we fight fires every game we lose a game? And I just don't think they can. So I think it will take a very dramatic upsurging fortunes for Thomas Frank to sort of keep the walls from the door on a permanent basis. He's, look, it's possible, but I think he still has a little bit more of a mountain to climb. Thank you very much to Sammy Mockbell. Just to wrap up, he was, you know, updating us on the future for Thomas Frank,

which is still in the balance, but has been eased by that 2-0 win against Berussia Dortmund. Paul, what are your final thoughts coming out of that game? And having seen one, the sort of fragility of spurs in the second half where, you know, you said there were team that they looked like they were low on confidence, but who were able to dig in in the first 45 minutes? Yeah, they are a team that are devoid of confidence, hence recent results. You're going to come into a big Champions League game tonight, not full of confidence. They went to and they saw the game out. It was a huge result for Thomas Frank. Yes, it's quiet the noise down a little bit for now. But the biggest thing for any manager, results will

turn over fan bases. I think that he is the right man for the job. I think give him time. I don't think that the problem lies at Thomas Frank's doorstep. I think the problem has been here for a long time. I think he's bearing the brunt of it at the moment, but I think poor recruitment and the way that the squad's been assembled, he's going to take time to do that. And my final point is, if it's not Thomas Frank, who is it? Well, that might be a question that we may have to ask in the coming weeks,

but it'll be one that Thomas Frank hopes doesn't have to be answered because he will hope that this result or this result is a springboard to further success for Tottenham this season. A two-not victory for them against Perusha Dortmund. Paul Robinson, Alistair Bruce Ball. Thank you very much. That's all right. Just got there in time.

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Looking back at our first commentary of the day, it was a momentous occasion. for Budo Glimp of Norway. They beat the 2023 winners. Manchester City 3-1 in the Arctic Circle. Chris Sutton and John Murray were there for us. Well, your five-live commentary team has now relocated into central Buda next to the harbour.

I can see the waters, the dark Arctic waters, just out of the window where we sit. And inside here, the supporters of this little club, and I mean that most respectfully, have pulled off a result that they're going to be talking about in the Arctic Circle for probably as long as the Arctic Circle exists, Chris Sutton. What a night it's been. Oh, yeah, a brilliant night for the people of Buda

and a night where they thoroughly deserve the victory against the mighty Manchester City from the Premier League. But Budra have proved in this competition they've been competitive so far. They're three points probably before tonight's game hadn't necessarily represented the level of their performance. They have been competitive and Manchester City turned up tonight. Pep went with a strong team he did, but Canutson had a plan and it worked.

When four three three, they sat in and they broke with great pace and ferocity and they should and could have scored more than three goals on the evening, but no, a brilliant night for the people of Buda. Let's hear how Pep Guardiola explained it away. I know how good team they are. I don't underestimate them just for the fact this maybe no matter no, but the semifinal last season, in Europa League, and they were fresh in mind,

and we arrived in some departments, you know, with the important players, and you know, with backcos, they give you the consistency to the team and they are a little bit fragile that they were last season in certain period, but how they fought and 10 against 11, and a lot of players make a step up and yeah,

how to change the dynamic week and next game against balls and after the last game against Galatasaray and waiting the players can come back step by step. So is it fair, Pep, to say you're not too worried that this is one of those results that can happen in this competition in these kind of scenarios? I don't have any doubt in this competition,

even the primary competition is nothing, nothing for granted. So that's for sure. So listen, the players, when United beat us, they were better. Today, okay, it was momentum that they punished us. But the team was there and we create the things in the corners and some actions that miss for something and they for transition, yeah, they're really good. So there we are, Pep Guardiola, two defeats in a row.

What happened at Old Trafford followed by this? I mean, I said to him tonight, are you worried? the feeling was that that wasn't particularly the case. I mean, what do you think? Big game against wolves now on Saturday, although Semenio and Gayo will be able to play in that match. Yeah, and I think that that's big. Clearly defensively, it's an area where they're lacking.

I felt for Max Alain this evening had a difficult time against Manchester United, was poor for the first two goals tonight, of course, no Diaz, no Gavadio, so issues defensively. They've brought in Mark Gay. and I think he'll certainly improve that backline. But Manchester City, they've got issues, they've got problems. They've given themselves a bit of a mountain to climb in the Premier League

in terms of what they want to qualify in the top eight, otherwise they're going to be involved in playoff games. Well, Pep's already got an injury crisis at the club. And so, yeah, they've still got work to do. But I think, you know, from Manchester City's point of view, it is important that they respond against wolves at the weekend. Should he be worried about Rodry? you know okay two yellow cards in in the space of a minute but more for me the way that hauga went past him

to score the third goal yeah i i thought look i mean it you know it's it's easy to to blame the pitch but certainly in that second half he did not look mobile and then you know terrible decision making from him it had been booked had his first yellow card and then within a minute, a second yellow card. Wasn't thinking straight. Here's one of Pep's, you know, reliable. Somebody he's supposed to trust. It was amateur hour from Rodry.

That is a, you know, it's a real worry for Pep. But Rodry wasn't the only one who had a poor night tonight. Well, I enjoyed hearing from Chettle Knutzen, who came and spoke to us in the interview room after the match. He said to us, we wanted to believe anything was possible. And also when one of the local reporters said to him, how are you going to celebrate this great victory? He said there'll be no celebration.

That's off the table. We've got to prepare to go to Spain next week to play atlactical Madrid. And they've got to win that to stand even a chance of getting through to the knockout round. Yeah, and you know what? Coming over here, all the talk is about Manchester City and making sure that they're,

were in the top eight and maybe we didn't think enough about Buda and the fact that they still have a chance of qualifying but they had to win the last two games so as important they won tonight and now they can go to Spain with a hell of a lot of confidence and we know that they're a super organized team they have a plan and yeah and Simioni's team will not get it easy well let's hear a little bit more about buda glint from the man tonight who was my opposite number he's the commentator for the Norwegian national broadcaster, N.R.K. He was sitting inside in his heated commentary box

while their English visitors were sitting outside in the freezing cold. But this is Biana Brando. It's always easy to say that the last game is the best. If it is a good one, you never seen anything better. But I think the Roma game in October 21, Rosemarino. It was much drama and big game.

Bullimt won, 6-1. But this is a better team and I think this is the best Budlimt ever have done. Are you surprised or did you believe that this team

had this in them? I was convinced that the city was going to beat them because I think they finished the last season a little bit a week and they was tired and some of the plays didn't do as well

as I thought they was going to do so and when you saw the starting team for City with Rodry and Holland and Forden I think no no no but no it was very impressive tell our listeners

what you told me yesterday about how 10 years ago you would simply not have believed that this was possible. Nobody believed it because the Woodglimt is a small club and the club has been barely hanging on and they are coming in and not in place and it's always been a goal for Glimb just to keep it up on the top league

and hang on there so nobody believed it. But then came Chetl Knudsen in 2017 and everything's changed. and will he stay here because there will be attractions and people will be attracted to what he has done? Oh he's special, very, very special and I think he has things he wants to do her. He's built this club from the second league

to the first league, the top of the league so he's done everything right brick on brick and he has great people around him but he is the man. He has done it and I think it's his life's work. It's what it wouldn't do. So you think that he would resist any interest in taking him somewhere else? I think there's always been interest for him and he has had offer on the table.

But this is what he believes in. This is what he want to do. And I think he's going to stay because he won't do. Champions League has been the goal all the way. And tonight, with the beat Manchester City, it's the first win ever for Bulletin Champions League. And he's really satisfied with that. And so now what about going and winning in Madrid against Athletico to go through?

I think the same thing. It's not going to happen, but who knows? Everything is possible. they need to win to have to reach the play of games but I think it's going to be too tough but we'll see we'll see so there we are Biana Brando

from NRK I suspect we might cross paths with him again maybe when we're back in England we'll put him out in the cold and we'll be on the inside that's the way it works but listen we've said about Buda Glimb going to Atlatico Madrid for Manchester

City next week home to Galatasarai they're probably going to have to win that to make sure they're finishing the top eight yeah you know it's it's unfortunate they calls themselves a you know a problem with you know coming to boot I'm not saying they took things for granted but as a poor performance didn't recover from the the loss against Manchester United at the weekend they've given themselves unnecessary work to do and and that's the issue they'll have to be professional against Galatasarai and get the job done or they'll be they'll be the extra games which Pep certainly doesn't want. Thank you, Chris.

We'll not forget our first commentary match in the Arctic Circle in a hurry. I can tell you that much. Elsewhere, Arsenal officially secured their place in the last 16, with a 3-1 win at the San Ciro against Inter Milan. Mike, Mainé watched this one for us. Mike, lots of changes for this game as well for Arsenal, but still a really strong performance. Yeah, seven changes before the game by,

Mikhail Artetta. One of those was Gabriel Jesus into the squad for his first start in Europe this season. His actual first appearance of the season after his big injury was against Club Bruges on match day six. But he came off the bench of that one. So his first start was tonight two reactive, instinctive goals by him to put Arsenal 2-1 up. In between that, there was a cracker top corner from Suchitch to make it 1-1 before Jesus got his second.

In the second half, Arsenal actually played Inter at their own game. by scoring on the counter-attack, Victorosha, bursting through on the halfway line. Inadvertently, I think, played it off the heels of Bikaiosaka in trying to tee up Bikaiosaka. Comes back to Yockeh, he pings it into the top right himself. But a really good competitive game, 35 shots, 18 actually in the favour of Intermilan.

Ebbed and flowed throughout. But Arsenal came out on top with those instinctive finishes in particular. European record for them, seven straight wins. They're guaranteed a top two finish now. Now, into for them, now outside the top eight with one game to go. Mike, thank you very much for that. Matt, it couldn't really have gone any better for Arsenal. They get the win and they get the three points.

They take it into the top of the table. That's where they're going to finish this Champions League campaign. They get to wrap it up with a game to go. They're obviously not going to be involved in the playoffs. That was decided a little while ago. And they get three goals with two of their strikers on the score sheet. Amazing night. What a night for Arsenal.

And another, you know, the second one was from a corner as well, which I think European teams are really struggling to deal with that kind of Premier League quality of set play. But they've conceded only two goals in Europe, Kelly, which is just fantastic. The way Miquel Aet has got them organised, working hard, he can make changes of the team and players come in and just pick it up where they left off. So super night for them.

Matthew Upsom, thank you very much. Lovely to talk to you. Thanks, Kelly. Finally, two big matches at the top of the championship this evening. evening, leaders Coventry went eight points clear with a two-one win against Millwall. Here's their boss, Frank Lampard. Great win for us, as was Saturday for us. And, yeah, a strong team, really strong team in the league, good players, powerful, physical.

Got a good idea about what they're doing. But I thought we deserved to win the game. A lot of possession in the game, the better chances in the game. He kept going. The second half was tougher than the first in a way. But showed the resilience of the team, the good player of the team. and really pleased. When you're pushing for what you're pushing for

and you've had great experience of title challenges, just how important are the late goals that win you games? You did it Saturday, you've done it again today. Yeah, it's important because I think it shows a team that believes and keeps believing to the end in games like tonight that come. I'm on a Tuesday night in January, you know, against a strong team, strong opponent. They're going to take you to the wire at times. When you've got belief, and as I say,

when we've got the squad and players to come in and add and help us, then it's a good sign for us, but obviously there's a long way to go, but at this point, that's good for us. And eight point, the gap at the top now. I know it's probably a bit too early for you to be looking at that, but psychologically, that's such a bonus for this side. Yeah, it is because we've had two big wins there,

and we obviously had a tough period over Christmas where I felt like the fatigue of the four games in a tight space showed on us. So to turn that round, we worked hard last week, and the training pitch and players have recovered and look and feel fresher. So I think that's been great that we've been able to sort of put that away, get two wins in the space of a few days. Now we need to go again.

We need to keep not looking too far. Don't look at the table too much. Keep trying to perform. Keep trying to get wins. We go to Norwich. You've just won 5-0 next game. So we know this league. We know how tough it is and we can't lose any focus

and must keep a lot of humility about us as well. Meanwhile, Ipswich moved up to second with a 2-0 win over Bristol City. Here are the thoughts of Ipswich manager, Kieran McKenna. Yeah, good performance tonight, good result. And yeah, I thought I liked this tonight. I think it was really professional. performance, really intense, really serious, good organisation, put some really good moves together in the first half, took the goals well and didn't give too much up, so good night's work.

All I've got written in my notes is Jack Clark, wow, I mean, two great goals from him. Yeah, really good night for him. He's having a good season and most importantly, I think he's just improving all the time and he's seeing his all-round performance tonight, of course, two really good goals, but his work, he was outstanding, his jewels, his 1-1 defending was outstanding, his reactions were outstanding and yeah, I thought it was a really, really good all-round performance. The atmosphere inside Portman Road was electric at full time.

You could see the fans giving it back to you. Does it have the kind of same feel that it did maybe two seasons ago? No, look, the world's different than it was two years ago and we're a different football club, but, you know, game in, game out, the people here turn up in big numbers, home or away, and they're supporting the players and everyone

really, really well, so we can't ask for any more than that. And yeah, we're still in the process of trying to build another really good team here. We're making some steps towards that, and the supporters are a massive part of that. And I think you can see in the home results and even in the home atmosphere is that we're going in the right direction. Is there a sense of trying to null the excitement,

though maybe, that what could potentially be this season? No, I think fans are got every right to, you know, look at the table and get focused and excited or sad or angry, depending on how you're doing. For us, nothing really changes. It's just about performance and taking care of all the things that we can to prepare for the games and giving everything in the performances. And then the results will follow from that.

So, you know, we enjoy it for this evening. But from tomorrow we turn ahead towards Sheffield and take it game by game. And hopefully we can keep taking steps forward. And we'll just, we'll see where we are in the end. And that's all for today's episode of the Football Daily podcast. We'll have a podcast double for you on Wednesday. There's the latest edition of 72 plus, as well as reaction to Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool's Champions League ties.

For now, though, thanks for listening. We've got to go out there and be the best that you can be. We're going to go out there and lay it all in the line. And skill collide. And the Eagles have beaten the Chiefs convincingly in Super Bowl 59. Five-lides for NFL. Listen on BBC Sounds. You know,