Manager looks ahead to Saturday's game against Accrington Stanley
Manager Mark Yates hopes to have a few more selection options tomorrow when we face Accrington Stanley at the Checkatrade.com Stadium. Here he updates us ahead of the game.
Mark Yates on…
Midweek setback at Notts County
We took the lead and were in a great position, their subs were warming up and the crowd was quiet but we gifted goals to them. We should have defended better for the first goal and didn’t respond for the second, and it knocks your confidence when you concede two goals in quick succession, especially as I felt we were on top at the time.
We didn’t do enough to get something out of game, but we continue to stick together as group. We worked on Thursday morning with the defenders and showed them clips of clean sheet games and games that we have conceded in. We’ve also done bits on the training ground because we want to get that defensive solidity back that we had a few weeks ago.
Performances overall this season
We haven’t quite stood up to the test when questions have been asked of us. I was very happy with first five games, but our decision-making and responsibility in situations has been poor in the last three games. We need to have more than one player that takes responsibility when defending. We’re a team, so I don’t like to point the blame at just one person. We can’t legislate for individual errors, but we’re not dealing with things and it’s costing us goals and games. That has to and will improve.
Injury update
There’s no doubt we’ve missed Joe (McNerney), but that shouldn’t be the sole reason for not getting something from the games he’s missed. He’s training again this morning and should be okay. We should have a fuller bench this weekend as well, with both Matt (Harrold) and Roarie (Deacon) in with a shout of playing. Shamir (Fenelon) is back from his loan move to Whitehawk and looking to fight for his place so he will also be in contention. It’s no secret that we’ve been stretched, but thankfully we seem to be getting a few bodies back now which is good.
Rhys Murphy and Ross Jenkins’ full debuts
Rhys (Murphy) played well, scored a goal and created chances. We like him and have done for a while now and I’m convinced he’ll score goals for us with his pedigree. Ross looked tidy on the ball although he couldn’t affect the goals we conceded I thought he did pretty well in the game on Tuesday.
Accrington Stanley
It’s going to a tough game against Accrington on Saturday. Jimmy (Dack) watched them against Portsmouth and came back with a glowing report, saying that they are disciplined and organised. John (Coleman)’s teams have a go and try to pass the ball. They move you around and ask questions and they know how to win games. It’s up to us to stand up to those questions.
I know we’re not set up to play like Barcelona, but we want to play great football and score goals, but we need to work harder to get something from games. Every match is tough in this league, but we have no one to fear when we’re at it. We have to find ways to get results when we’re not at it.
Support from the fans
We've had a tough spell but I have to say the fans have been great. I see supporters in and around the club during the week and I can see how much this club means to them. It's up to me and the players to give everyone something to get behind on a Saturday or Tuesday night. There's a long way to go in the season and I'm convinced we will soon start climbing the table and I would just ask that the fans continue to stick with the boys.
