MANAGER: Attitude and application has been fantastic

“We’ve given them an extra workload, particularly last week, but they’ve bought into it,” he said. “There’s been a reason for everything we’ve done because we already know we don’t have a problem with fitness. The fitness levels are excellent at this football club so we’ve focused more on the technical and tactical work. 

“Their attitude and application has been fantastic and we’ve been able to hold debriefs on a daily basis to cover things myself and the coaching staff have seen. We’ve been able to work on eradicating mistakes and we’ve got to thank the youth team, because they’ve been excellent as well. They’ve provided numbers when we’ve needed them and they’ve worked hard with us. Good habits form good habits so the more work we can do together the better.”

“We’ll shorten the time we’re keeping the players here this week because it was as late as 6pm on some occasions last week,” he continued. “Again, that hasn’t been as a punishment because the players have used the time to talk about what they want to talk about as well. 

“Normally when players are leaving the club at that sort of time it’s because it’s been used a punishment. They haven’t taken it that way at all. They’ve enjoyed the time they’ve had to learn about each other.”

“We’ve said it before, we’re in a tough situation and we have to change that,” he told us. “The penny is starting to drop that you’ve got to do in training what you’re going to do in a game. If you’re a defender, don’t take risks, be a defender. 

“Likewise, if you’re an attacker take your chances in the opposition half. When you’re in our half or in the middle third you need to be more dependable and consistent in possession. These are all components we are working on daily, in 11 v11 situations, so they become second nature.

“This is the same group of players who got us results against Stevenage, Tranmere, Oxford, Accrington and Hartlepool. That shows the discipline and performances are there and that we just need to find them more often. 

“We’re working on that individually and encouraging everyone, if they see a potential for a mistake, to warn the person before it happens. We also need to make sure there is honesty in the changing room so they can feel comfortable with highlighting any mistakes that have just happened. 

“I’ve learned we have inexperienced players who make wrong decisions in training. They’re the same decisions they’re making in games. That’s why we’re playing full games every day at the moment because that is where they will learn best.”