Swindon Town head north this weekend with one point from their first two league fixtures, and no doubt with a point to prove as they look to give their season a kickstart.
“It’s really surprising as far as I’m concerned because I’ve watched their two games against Harrogate and Salford - I didn’t watch the game against Walsall, because they made a lot of changes - and I really do think they’re a good side,” manager Paul Simpson said.
“They played a lot of their game against Salford with ten men, so that will have affected the way it looked, but against Harrogate they played some excellent football.
“In the end they were turned over quite comfortably, but they do have players who can make big impacts in good areas. I’ve always liked Jon Williams in midfield, he’s a good footballer, and Louis Reed plays a holding midfield role very effectively.
“Everybody knows what Harry McKirdy can do, and the one thing I would say is that it’s a game where we need to really focus on ourselves and what we can do. Let’s make it about our players, and not about any other background noise that might help one or two of their players to react and perform.
“We know that if our players get out there on the front-foot we could well have another good afternoon. So, let’s not give their players a reason to get their hackles up, let’s get behind ours and really help to push them on.
“I look through the team and they’ve got good experience with Baudry, a good goalkeeper with Sol Brynn, Angus MacDonald at the back, good senior players who can be effective.
“All I’ll say is that we really have to focus on us. We’ve got to make sure we’re right. I think we’ve shown we’re a good side in our three games.
“If we focus on us, and also if our supporters can focus on us and not get too involved with any of their players, I think we can make it a good day if our level of performance is as it has been in the last three.”
An obvious threat is the unpredictable Harry McKirdy, who can turn games in the blink of an eye when he’s in the mood.
“He’s a matchwinner on his day,” he said. “I don’t know the guy, but I read things, hear things, so let’s make it a really nice place for him this weekend, because I think he thrives when it isn’t.
“Let’s make sure we make it a horrible day for Swindon in terms of how we play football. I just think if our supporters can focus on us, because the last thing I want to do is light the fuse that gets him properly going in a game and makes it really difficult for us.
“I’d rather he feels uncomfortable because we’ve shown him some love and he doesn’t perform.”
A feature of United’s summer so far has been the speed in which they’ve come out of the blocks, as soon as the first whistle has been blown
“I think you should always come out of the traps flying if you can,” he told us. “I always think if you go into it thinking that you’ll save a bit, it’s actually very difficult to change your mindset.
“That’s why I want us to start front-foot forward and look to get about teams and unsettle them. Our way is a high intensity approach, in or out of possession, and we need to be winning the ball back early if we lose it.
“The players are doing it, and they’re being really effective because of that. We need to get even better at it, I’m under no illusions about that, but I’m really pleased with what we’re doing so far.
“If we can get that again on Saturday hopefully it’ll give us a good foothold in the game. And another big crowd would be a huge advantage.
“I can’t speak highly enough of how our supporters have been so far this and last season for the time I was here. They’ve been absolutely magnificent. We want to keep that.
“Now, we have to put on a performance to keep it. We totally get that. This will be a real testing game against Swindon. They try to play out from the back, through the thirds, with Jonny Williams, he’s a good, experienced player, they’ve got good players up front who can cause problems.
“If we can get the supporters through the gates, get them in making it a really good atmosphere for our players, our players get a lift from that, and that’s what we want this weekend.
“We have two really good home league games to come this month, this and the Gillingham one. We also have the long away trips, but we’ll do it properly.
“I dread to think how many hours I’ve spent on a coach or in hotels in my 40-odd years in football, but I just think it’s part of the game, part of your life, you just get used to it.
“What I would say, there’s many worse ways to be employed so we can’t really grumble about being involved in football.”
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