Idrissa, how different does the mood feel in the camp after what was a strong attacking display at Leicester City?   

It’s hard to encapsulate the mood at this stage of the season. It’s a key stage and things are changing very quickly from game to game. One thing I can assure you of is that we’re all being positive. I think that’s very important. We know we’ve got to win matches and pick up points in order to climb places in the league.   

It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to win it (the Leicester game), but we could have lost it as well. So a point is good in that respect. What you can be rest assured is that we’re all giving 200 per cent in order to get as many points as we can between now and the end of the season  

Do you feel like that game has given the team a confidence boost going into the next one?  

I think confidence is an important factor during this period of the season and it’s something we can continue to cultivate and work on. Because we’re going to need plenty of confidence for the remaining games. Looking back at the season, particularly away from home, there aren’t too many examples where we’ve gone behind in the scoreline and managed to come back to earn a result. You need character to do that, and I think we showed a lot of that against Leicester. We know it’s not easy, but we need to show that fight and that belief in ourselves. Confidence does breed better results.  

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has started each of the past three games, how good has it been having him back?  

It’s fantastic Dominic is back. He looks more than 100-per-cent fit, and we all know within the Club how important he is to us. The fact he’s come back and he’s out on the field; that’s fantastic. We know he wants to help the team as much as he can and that’s great for us.  

The manager loves that type of player who is prepared to run, work hard, fight for the ball, and score goals. We appreciate that as a group of players as well. We love to work with Dominic. We need his performances right until the end of the season, but it’s not just Dominic in the attack. We have plenty of others who can make the manager’s choice a difficult one, but in a good way. We have other attackers who can make a difference between now and the end of the season, too.  

It’s always a tense period of the season, is the squad feeling any of the pressure from that?   

It would be much more pleasant if we were further up the table and challenging for trophies at the end of the season. As players, we love to challenge ourselves and put ourselves under pressure. It is a great source of motivation, but it would be preferable to be higher up the league. Being footballers, we’ve become used to having to play under pressure, and that’s something we’re going to have to deal with again.  

It’s Brighton up next, many see them as a surprise package in the Premier League this year, what are your thoughts on them?  

Personally, even when I wasn’t playing in this league, I always used to watch the Premier League. So there’s no surprise to me that Brighton are doing what they do. I think that despite the change in manager, they’ve kept the same structure at the club. They’ve kept the same style of play. They concentrate on bringing through young, talented players and they’ve managed to have a great run of form. They run hard, they play a really good style of football, good touch on the ball and I think they are very confident at the moment.   

I think that always plays a part as we know the change in regime hasn’t affected them in a negative way and I think it’s really good. They are and have been a threat to the bigger clubs within the Premier League. A challenge to that kind of team is good to see. I think it’s positive when other teams come in and challenge the big four, five or six.  

Your game will come on Monday after most of your league rivals have already played, will you be watching their matches closely?   

You can drive yourself crazy trying to second-guess results and look at what other teams are doing. When it gets to this stage of the season, I think it’s all about us. We have to prepare ourselves to try to win the games because we know we have to get as many points as possible. It’s all about giving absolutely everything, running until the end, and giving all of our effort to make sure we can win games. We’re not wasting energy focusing on other results, because that’s a waste of thinking time. We’ve got to focus all that energy on our own remaining games.  

How has your manager Sean Dyche been during this tense period?    

He’s a really cool guy. He’s a cool manager. I think one of the reasons he was brought in was because he knows how to manage these situations. He’s been in similar situations before, and I think that’s why the Club decided to bring him in. The smile he has and the confidence he has have managed to bring a renewed energy to the Club. Not only is he instilling this joie de vivre, but he’s also giving us an intensity to go right to the end.   

We have to fight until the end. There’s time for looking at the table at the end of the season, but not currently. The training sessions have been great and they’re filling us with hope and energy ahead of each game. His mantra is, “the minimum requirement is maximum effort,” and that’s at all times. We must give it our all for the rest of the season.