Birmingham City to 'focus on the process'
Birmingham City goalkeeper Ryan Allsop says the League One leaders will continue to "focus on the process" as they move closer to promotion.Saturday's 1-0 win over Lincoln stretched Blues' lead at the top to 11 points with 12 games to go.They also have a game in hand over nearest challengers Wycombe Wanderers.Chris Davies' side have a 12-point cushion to the play-off places too with third-placed Wrexham, six points clear of Stockport, the likeliest challengers to the top two.The win over the Imps was decided by Kieran Dowell's 70th-minute penalty and ensured Blues did not let momentum slip any further after suffering only their third defeat of the season at Bolton four days earlier."We wanted to bounce back and show what we're about really, like we have done all season and obviously the boys are working tirelessly hard," Allsop told BBC Radio WM."I think it shows in every game that we play, the energy that we show and the pressing and the way we play with the ball."To sustain that for the amount of games we have done so far... Obviously, we've got a few more games to go yet and we want to sustain that even further."
Allsop 'feared the worst' after Wycombe injury
The Lincoln victory was also a personal triumph for Allsop, back in the side after missing the Bolton defeat with an ankle injury, suffered late on in the win over Wycombe on 1 March.Allsop said he "feared the worst" immediately after getting hurt, having had a similar injury in the past."I was quite worried straight away when it happened - it's an injury I've sustained before so obviously I feared the worst but the scan results didn't come back too bad," the 32-year-old said.Allsop duly delivered a 20th clean sheet on his return to the side and was quick to praise the "phenomenal" defensive unit in front of him."We're a high energy team - the striker always starts that off for us - and then obviously the boys at the back have been phenomenal," he said."Teams slow the game down and try to make it difficult for us and rely on the counter-attack or set play, so we have to deal with it, which we've done magnificently this season."
Birmingham have the chance to move 14 points clear if they can beat Stevenage at home on Tuesday and Wrexham lose at Reading.But despite a return to the Championship edging ever closer, Allsop says Blues boss Davies is drumming in the importance of not getting distracted by that."The gaffer talks about focusing on the process," he said, "and that's very much what we're doing - focusing day to day, week to week, making sure we come and perform to our highest level and keep that consistency and obviously keep that winning mentality."
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