Planet Swans ArchivesThe Nottingham Forest striker had a goal disallowed in the first leg of the game against Swansea City on Thursday and he believes that his side will arrive in South Wales tonight in a confident frame of mind despite the favourites tag being assigned to the Swans.
“It’s not all over,” he told the Western Mail.
“We’re not behind and it’s still only halfway so this is still anyone’s.
“And we’ll still go down there confident because it’s all about one big game.
“It’s like a cup-final; we start off 0-0 and it’s what happens on the day.
“No-one’s ahead, the first leg’s gone and it’s about how we do in Swansea now.
“And we have to be confident because we know how well we can play, so we can go into it with plenty of hope.
“It’s not an opportunity missed because we’re back where we started. If someone was in the lead going into the game then it’s different, but there’s no major impact from the first game even.
“Yes, we were against 10 men, but that doesn’t mean anything because we’re level and it’s about what happens in Swansea now.
“The sending-off was a big moment, but, to be fair, Swansea made it really difficult because we found it very hard to get through them,” said Earnshaw, who had a second-half header at the City Ground ruled out for offside.
“But we have to look at ourselves first and our quality wasn’t quite there at times.
“I thought on another day we might have done better, especially with our crosses, and maybe we could have got one or two goals.
“On another day mine could have counted or little things could have gone our way because it’s those small moments that matter in matches like this.
“But I don't think we were fluent enough. We didn’t create enough and a lot of times we didn’t slip enough balls in.
“In the games going into the play-offs we had four or five good chances and that’s what we should have been creating, so that’s why we didn’t score.
“So we know we’re going to have to be a lot better if we want to get through, especially down there because they are so comfortable at home.
“It’s going to be hard, but we’ve been pretty good away from home so we will be confident.
“Swansea are a very, very good team and the way they play makes it tough for any opposition.
“But if we want to achieve things then we’ve got to beat Swansea. If we want to have the right to play Manchester United and Liverpool then they will be tougher prospects than playing Swansea, so we have to earn it and do it when it matters.”
