Mark Robinson looked to the opposition today for a shining example of the mentality that he wants his players to show in abundance.
Experienced Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan’s industry and quality in the centre of the park was very much in evidence during the 2-2 draw.
When asked about Jack Rudoni’s goalscoring contribution, Robbo replied: “We used him (‘Rudi’) as an example. He is going to play 300 or 400 games when he is a lot better than that, but fundamentally he kept at it and he got his goal. That’s another thing I’ve been saying to the lads, ‘sometimes you might go home absolutely knackered, you’ve put in a shift, and on the ball you’ve done very little, but we’ve come away three points or a point. That’s the kind of learning they’ve got to understand.
“If you look at Barry Bannan out there today. He’s 31 now, and he’s played in the Premier League, but he’s absolutely covering every blade of grass. He’s played at the top level and now he’s in League One, but he’s got absolutely the same mentality. It’s those positive reinforcement messages that we’ve got to get across to the lads.”
“Fightbacks are great because it shows that there is character there, but we’ve been talking about how we can further implement what we want to do, so that we are going one or two goals up and then we are talking about how we see games out, and we get back to winning games. The challenge point has changed for our lads now. I don’t think we are looked at as relegation fodder. That’s part of our learning. I think their average age was 27 or 28 and ours is 22 or 23. As long as the players keep coming in every day, listening and taking responsibility, we are only going to grow.
“I thought the difference between the two teams today was when they attacked. They just had more purpose behind what they did, and our attacks fizzled out a little bit.”
With the score at 2-2 near the end today, Robbo wondered if he had missed a goal!
“There isn’t a ground in the country where the fans are celebrating a draw like that! At 2-2 I wondered, ‘have I missed a goal?’ If you walked into the ground in the 89th minute you would think we were winning 3-2. I honestly believe that’s because they do understand that we are trying to build something here, and they do understand we are learning. I’ve been given the job to make that development happen as quickly as possible. They are a great bunch of lads and we are having great conversations after games. There are things that they need to learn to love to do, but it’s just where they are. They are young players learning their trade.”
Pic credit: Ian Stephen, Pro Sports Images.
Click on the link below to listen to Robbo's full interview.