Dunk: It’s onwards and upwards

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We need to maintain hunger and desire for remainder of the season, says skipper.

Alex Stedman

2020-06-22T12:49:00Z

Albion skipper Lewis Dunk.

Lewis Dunk says he can count on the rest of his Albion teammates to stay motivated and continue to try to produce good results between now and the season’s end.

The Seagulls travel to face Leicester City tomorrow on the back of a 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Amex on Saturday, and the captain has spoken about the importance of trying to maintain the standards they set against the Gunners.

He said, “We just want to get as many points as possible to make it as comfortable for ourselves as we can.

“We know we’re going to have to stay highly motivated throughout the next month or so, but that will be made a lot easier because of our determination to stay in this league.

“We are realistic about where we are at the moment. We’re working our way towards become an established Premier League club, as the chairman said when he talks about his vision.

“His ambition is for us to become a top ten club. We have everything in place to be able to do that, but we know we still have a long way to go.

“This is our third season in the league, and we want many more. The aim is to keep building and to become more stable by focusing on getting better as individuals and a team.”

Dunk will come up against the Premier League’s top scorer tomorrow night at the King Power Stadium when he takes on 19-goal Jamie Vardy.

The defender is aware of the threat Vardy poses and acknowledges that nullifying him could be key to getting another positive result.

“Playing against him challenges you in a big way – he’s a lot different to most strikers in this league because he’s non-stop for the whole game.

“You’ll think you’ve got time on the ball and he’s there pressing you very quickly.

“He doesn’t stop running and has great energy. You know when you step off the field at the end of the game that you’ve come up against a really good player - he’s a tough opponent.

“Hopefully we can keep him quiet, because a clean sheet and a good defensive performance will give us a solid basis on which to go and win the game.”

Alexis Mac Allister was introduced in the latter stages against Arsenal and had a big hand in setting up the winning goal for Neal Maupay in injury time.

Dunk has been impressed by what he’s seen from the Argentinian playmaker and believes he’ll have an influential role to play between now and the end of July.

“He’s a really talented player who will help us in a big way, as well as developing himself.

“He’s still getting used to this country. He moved over and had the pandemic to deal with during his first few months in a new environment so it hasn’t been easy.

“But some time away from the pitch has probably helped him to settle into his new surroundings. He’s a very good player and I’m sure he’ll get the chance to show what he’s made of in these last eight matches.”