Nick Cushing | “We Have To Play Our Football.”  | New York City FC

Nick Cushing has encouraged his players to play their football and dig deep as they pursue victory in Cincinnati this week.

New York City FC travels to TQL Stadium this Saturday to face FC Cincinnati in the decisive third game of a best-of-three series. A win would secure City a spot in the next round of the Audi MLS Playoffs and set up a showdown with the Red Bulls.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Cushing discussed how his side can harness the momentum generated from their 3-1 victory last time out.

“It’s about trying to show our players how much our fans enjoy seeing that type of performance from our players,” he said.

“Not just the good football and the goals, but the guts and the fight and the desire to ensure that we are the team that goes through the next game right.

“The performance at Citi Field had everything. Not only did we play well and create chances, but the running numbers were excellent, as was the desire to make sure that we didn’t give the second goal away.”

“We’ve got to make sure that we play the football that our fans deserve and that we know we can play, and in the difficult moments, you have to dig deep.

“We know who we are now. We’ve just got to make sure that we go prepared and we deliver everything that we’ve got.”

Goals from Alonso Martínez, Thiago Martins, and Santiago Rodríguez secured City a 3-1 win in their last meeting on Saturday.

The win set up a decisive third game in Cincinnati, with Cushing expressing confidence that his players are prepared for the challenge awaiting them in Ohio.

“This is going to be a tough game,” Cushing said. “With regards to it [the game] swinging both ways, I think that’s natural in playoff football.

“You’ve got to be prepared to absorb the pressure and you’ve got to make sure that you capitalize on the moments that you get.

“I was pleased that in the game at Citi Field. We started quickly. We were up 2-0, and then, we were putting the pressure in the second half.

“There are elements of that game, and the game at Cincy, that we have to go through to look at how we minimize the amount of pressure that we absorb and how we control Cincinnati in the moments where they become strong.

“It’s all part of preparing for the game. We know it’s going to be a tough one, but the guys are really up for this one.”

This will be the sixth matchup between New York and Cincinnati in 2024. Before this playoff series, the teams faced each other in both the Leagues Cup and the MLS Regular Season.

Unsurprisingly, Cushing acknowledged the sense of familiarity that exists between the two teams, while discussing his focus on crafting a strategy to help his side deal with the pressure they expect to experience on Saturday.

“It’s unique,” he said. “We’ve never faced it. It’s unique for us in the sense of the three-game series, but it is actually going to be the sixth time that we’ve played this team, because we played them in Leagues Cup and twice in the regular season.

“You become really familiar with each other. There are going to be elements of all the games that we’ve played present in this upcoming game.

“You have to be prepared to compete in the game. It’s now a playoff game for us. This is more like the playoff football I’ve known since 2020.

“You win and you go through you lose and you’re out. There are some considerations that I’m making in the sense of changes. If you go back to the first league game there, thought we competed really well in a different way.

“We’re trying to work through some small stuff now to make sure we have a strategy during the difficult moments, but like I say it’s playoff football now. You’ve got to be up for it, and you’ve got to be ready to go and compete.”