Manager Keith Curle spoke to us about the weekend trip to face Chesterfield at the Proact Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“This is another game for us to look forward to because it’s another opportunity to get three points,” he said. “The work we do as coaching staff doesn’t change because it’s about making sure our team is ready for the next challenge.
“Whatever situation Chesterfield are in at the moment, they’re a good club and we will prepare exactly the same as if we were facing a team at the top end of the division. They’ve been on a slide and they need to halt it, but I know they’ll be fully aware of that.”
“As Carlisle United found a few seasons ago, it can sometimes be difficult to adjust to the new division when you’ve dropped down, and that’s when clubs make changes for the right reasons,” he commented. “They’ve now chosen an ex-player in Jack Lester who is very well respected, not only within the game, but within Chesterfield, because of what he did when he was there as a player.
“He’s a young manager who will bring fresh ideas, particularly with having a solid grounding with under-23 football at Nottingham Forest. He’ll know how he wants his team to play and how to set them up to get the best out of them.
“It’s now about how he implements his message and gets it across to those players who take to the field. Things will be nervy within the stadium because of where they are, but we go there to play the opposition and to play our game.”
When asked if we would need to be wary of the impact a new manager can have at a club, he said: “All clubs go through a period when they’ve had their uncertainty, but the players react positively when a new manager comes in because they’re trying to impress.
“It can be disappointing for the manager who has just left when he sees players get good results when they probably haven’t performed as well as they could have when he was still there. There’s an element of what will happen with their new manager being there on Saturday, but we go there to play the team on the day and not the circumstances.
“I had it when I first came to this club because we were also on the back end of a relegation and four points adrift at the bottom of the division. When I took over the expectation from the crowd was that we were going to get instant results.
"They were desperate to see our slide come to a halt and we were lucky enough to put a run together which gave the supporters belief. That gave us the momentum we needed to get out of it.”
“Chesterfield will be looking to do exactly the same thing,” he continued. “Jack will be looking to galvanise everybody connected with the club so that unity is created, and things start to look up again. We’ll be respectful of that, but we go there in good form, particularly away from home.
“We’ve got that because the players have enjoyed working to the information they’ve been given, and they’ve picked up the results because of it. The trips to Crewe, Crawley and Colchester have all needed different tactics and attributes to nullify the opposition on the day and the players have been absolutely fantastic in the way they’ve set about it.
“We’ve been very difficult to beat and break down recently and three clean sheets away from home have shown that we’re getting ourselves a platform we can build from.”
And on what type of game we can expect on the day, he told us: “Despite where they are in the division Chesterfield are a team who can play, but they can also mix it up a bit.
“Jack was a very good player who knew how to work the opposition and I have no doubt he’ll bring that knowledge and know-how to his team. He’ll have them competing and playing football when they can, and they’ll want to quiet us down.
“Our players will be prepared for that and I know we’ll have a good following who will play their part. The fans are going in numbers and they’ll be noisy as well, which is very pleasing.
“The vocal support we get from our fans is fantastic and there haven’t been too many occasions when we haven’t put in performances worthy of that level of support. We’re very well supported at every ground we go to and we’re well respected as well. Our fans don’t only go to support their club, but they go to represent what we’re trying to create.”
Click HERE to watch an interview with Keith Curle on iFollow United now.