Skipper says squad are in good heart ahead of Accrington trip
Skipper Sonny Bradley believes Reds are in the right frame of mind to build on the win at Stevenage when we travel to Accrington Stanley on Saturday.
The 1-0 win halted a run of three successive defeats while a revamped defence kept only our second clean sheet in the last 15 league and cup games.
Sonny said: “Last Saturday’s win was one of the most important of the season I think.
“We’d lost three in a row and there was a bit of doom and gloom but that’s been lifted with three points. We’ve had two good days of training so far this week and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
“It was great to win but for us defenders the clean sheet was massive. I don’t know if the gaffer will change things on Saturday but I thought the 3-5-2 worked well.
"At Stevenage, particularly in the second half, they threw a lot at us. They won 16 corners but I thought we coped pretty well and when they could Bobson (Bawling) and Deaks (Roarie Deacon) pushed on and got us up the pitch.
“I think any team looks to the defence to take the lead. If we’re solid and keeping clean sheets that takes a lot of pressure off. We haven’t done that enough this season and it’s been hard for the management. With George Smith back at Barnsley and Banj (Lanre Oyebanjo) still not quite ready he hasn’t got many full-back options. But Bobson came to the club as right-sided defender and Roarie has played in that position before and they definitely helped give us a platform on Saturday which we want to build on.”
Reds lost 3-0 to Stanley back in September and Accrington have a terrific record at home, with only one defeat at the Wham Stadium since October 3, although they did go six weeks without a home match at the turn of the year because of pitch problems.
“We know it will be tough,” added Sonny, “They have had issues with their pitch but I said to the lads on Monday that we’re not even considering the possibility that it might be off. We’ve banned all talk of what we’d do if the game got postponed and how good or bad the pitch might be.
"They have done some work on the surface and the forecast looks fine so we’re preparing for the game as normal. They looked a good side in September but there was nothing in the game until Luke Rooney got sent off. If we’re at it as we were on Saturday I’m sure we can get a result.”
