Mark Robinson reminded his players after today’s match that they must be stronger as a collective group.
Following the 2-1 defeat at Plough Lane at the hands of Scunthorpe, Robbo talked with our squad about putting things right in time for the opening League One match at Doncaster.
“It’s nothing that can’t be fixed, and we’ve just had a good honest chat about it," he said. "If we are going to have the season that we believe we are capable of we need to get the fundamentals right. There were some decent moments out there, but we didn't do the work off the ball that we did last season, as a collective. We also made sloppy errors, which gave them belief. Those things need to be ironed out, so that’s what we’ve been talking about in there. We’ve got to remember why we only lost six games out of 21 last season, and the whole point is to build on from that. Today, we didn’t do well enough off the ball.
“I have been chatting to the senior lads about some of our younger players. They are talented players, but for some of them it is their first foray into men’s football, so they need a bit of time. That will come, and I have no worries they will learn. They will get the support they need, and there’s a certain amount of patience that will be needed with them, but at the same time they have to get the fundamentals right off the ball. As a collective, we need to make sure that we are really strong. We can’t give away cheap goals like we did today – we’ve done it right throughout pre-season – and it’s a wake-up call.”
Today’s match was played in front of a full West Stand for the first time, and Robbo was delighted to welcome the fans back, but he wants to give them more to celebrate in the coming season.
“I just wish we had given the fans more to be pleased about. There were some moments that were quite exciting, but we’ve got to be ready for a season here, so it’s great to have the fans back. We’ve got to think about how we look in terms of being prepared for the season and getting those fundamentals right, so that we are hard to beat, which we were in the final 21 games of last season.”
The picture above shows Luke McCormick in match action today (photograph by Ian Stephen, Pro Sports Images).
You can listen to Robbo's full post-match interview by clicking on the link below.