Going up? Or coming down? I have been on both sides of that fence with a game to go. You tell your players that it’s just another game. And then you go home and say it to the family as well. But you don’t believe it. Of course you don’t. Because it’s rubbish.
The build up is key. It’s psychology as much as anything. As a manager you have to be amongst the players and ‘feel’ them to try and work out what they are thinking. To some it’s water off a duck’s back. To others it isn’t.