Gabriele Cioffi looks ahead to another tough home game against MK Dons on Saturday.
Reflections on bad result at Tranmere…
When you don’t win you learn and Tranmere was a big lesson for us. I woke on Sunday morning hoping it was a bad dream!
As a side we can play good football but we have to win the challenges and we didn’t do that last Saturday. We lost confidence as a result and had a fear of the opponent. It was like a dog biting its tail. We conceded two goals at set pieces which is funny because for our previous eight or nine games we didn’t concede at all from corners or free kicks so this is another lesson for us.
After two amazing performances it was a shock. The result came from not winning challenges or 1 v 1s. You can never think your skill level or philosophy alone can win you the game. At the moment we have to win every tackle, aerial duel and body contact before we can play our football. 99% is not enough. We need 110% minimum. If we are the team we want to be we should be going to Tranmere and not losing, maybe not winning but not losing. We played in limbo and when that happens you suffer.
Bouncing back …
I deeply trust my own work and that of my staff and I deeply trust the squad. It’s funny to say but even after a 5-1 defeat you can grow. We have done a lot of good since I came here, but we have to learn from setbacks.
When you learn to run you have to walk first, fall and walk again and then eventually you will run all the time. The falls are important because when you fall you know you are not ready. If you don’t fall then you feel invincible and when challenges come along that you don’t expect you can struggle. It is the same in football.
I am really confident of a positive reaction on Saturday, based on the training this week. We have worked at a high level. It will be a different performance on Saturday and yes, I am confident that it will be a different season for Crawley.
Maintaining good home form …
We feel relaxed at home and we want as many points as we can. This league is a marathon and to win a marathon you have to know when to push the accelerator. We have a good balance at home at the moment and we want this to continue.
I would like as many supporters here as possible on Saturday – the lads deserve a good crowd and we have seen the difference it has made in recent weeks so my message to the fans is come along, bring your family and friends and give your club lots of support.
Tough opponents in MK Dons …
They are very consistent with a strong coach who has a lot of experience of this league. Looking at them they know what they want. At the worst they want a point from each game. We respect everyone and have a healthy fear of MK Dons but we know what we can achieve.