Lee Brown has issued a stark warning to his team-mates with the message that it’s time to wake up if we are to retain our League One status.
“Everyone needs a reality check. I haven’t been in this position, I’m used to winning games and I don’t like losing games,” said Brown after last night’s 2-0 defeat at Plymouth Argyle. “I don’t think it hurts people enough.
“You’ve got to find something, because if you don’t – you’re getting relegated. People have got to dig deep. Whatever it is you’ve got to give an extra 10 per cent. I don’t care if you have to stay out and do whatever you need to – whether it’s your head or your ability – everyone has got to raise their game, or this club is getting relegated. It’s as simple as that.
“I’ve seen it at Bolton, I’ve seen it now, I keep seeing it. Everyone needs to have a look at themselves. As players, as professional people, you need to have a look at yourself because I’m telling you now that if you get relegated it’s not a good thing to have on your CV. It’s bad on everyone.
“It’s not all the fault of our young players. There are experienced players as well who need a reality check. We can’t just put it all on the young players, it’s easy to put it on the young players. Are they and the experienced players naïve at times? Yes, but it's a collective. We need a serious reality check because the way we are going we will get relegated.”
The experienced defender, who joined us in the January transfer window from Portsmouth, identified areas where we need to improve ahead of this Saturday’s home game against Lincoln City.
“We can sit here and say, 'be brave, go and win your headers', but there are different ways to be brave,” said Brown. “There’s being brave without the ball and being brave on the ball.
“Games go through spells. We had a good 20 minutes, but we didn’t score when we were on top. Then momentum changed, but that’s where you’ve got to manage games and don’t concede. We didn’t manage the game, you concede, and then all of a sudden shoulders drop. We need to score when we’re on top – there’s no doubt about it.”
You can see Lee Brown’s post-match interview in full below, via the link to our official YouTube channel. Viewers are warned the video contains strong language.