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It's a different view from the bench

Starting the last two games on the substitutes’ bench has enabled me to get a different view of the game. It’s given me more insight into how we play the way we do and it makes it easier to pick out areas of our game that are working and those in need of attention.

Against Ilkeston last Saturday I thought we dominated the majority of the play, apart from a 10-15 minute spell in the second half when they came back into it. Their goal was a bit of a scramble in the area and I think they got lucky really. By the time they scored we should have been out of sight as we had three or four chances that we should have put away. Players know they should be doing better and no disrespect to Ilkeston, we expected to do better than a 1-1 draw. Having said that, they are a better side than their league position suggests.

On the positive side, we are creating chances and I’d be more worried if we weren’t creating those opportunities. The fact that we are shows that it’s only a matter of time before they start going in. Coming on as a substitute in the second half, I felt a little bit out of sync with the game but you have to adapt very quickly to the pace of the game. At the end of the day, you’re there to do a job and it didn’t take long to get into the play.

Thanks to our mini-cup runs we still have games in hand so we have the chance to climb the table. Three tough games coming up against Rushall, Marine and Chorley will tell us a lot about our current form and how well we might do this year. I said at the start of the season that I believe that we are good enough to win this league and I stand by that. It’s still early in the season and we remain well placed. If we continue to pick up points then come Christmas we should be amongst the leaders. Of course, as our manager always reminds us, there’s no prizes handed out until April and that’s where we remain focused.

Coming good at the right time is all that matters in this league. Having lost in the play-off final for the last two seasons, we should know that better than most!



First Posted ~ 09:54 Sat 17 Nov 2012
News ID ~ 4566
Last Updated ~ 02:08 Tue 16 Feb 2021