Another week of sub-zero temperatures has meant another week of planning on the hop for the first-team coaching staff when it comes to training sessions, but assistant manager Gav Skelton confirmed that it’s been all systems go, with a lot of good work done ahead of the Tuesday trip to Northampton.
“We’ve managed to do a lot on the different surfaces we use,” he told us. “Knowing the game was off on Friday meant we had then and today to do even more.
“We got the covers off the training pitch on Friday morning and hopefully the weather will mean that we’re on there on Monday morning before we travel.
“That’ll be really good for us as we lead into Tuesday. At the moment we’re making the most of every session we get, but whatever we do it’s all about preparing for that next game.
“It’s like Saturday morning, it was a good opportunity to do more work before we sent them away until Monday morning.
“We’re all frustrated that games are off because your focus each week is always on the game at the weekend.
“With the early cancellation it meant we could calm ourselves down mentally before we start to really build up again on Monday, as would be the case if we’d had a game scheduled for Tuesday anyway.
“Obviously it’s another couple of days for those players who picked up niggles in training this week, hopefully they’ll recover. I think one will, I’m not so sure about the other, but we’ll see.
“Like I say, if we are on the grass on Monday, that helps us even more once again. And there are enough midweek fixtures anyway for that be something we just do.
“There’s no change for us with that. We’re used to playing and travelling. It’s been difficult to find places to train and we’ll probably get into a situation where pitches will be waterlogged next week.
“It’s good to get a game in, I think that will make it four games in less than two weeks as we go forward.
“It’s exciting and means there’s plenty of points to be won. It also gives a couple of lads another few days to get fit for the game on Tuesday, so you’ve got to take the positives.”
“The prep for the game has all been done and it basically just gets pushed back a couple of days,” he added. “It’s nothing new to us, with where we are in the country and the league we’re in I think we’re all used to games being called off.
“There’s no point making excuses, it’s the same for Northampton and we’ve got to turn it into a positive that we’ve got an extra couple of days to prepare.”
Tuesday’s game is, of course, against one of the teams who are right up there with us.
“All games are exciting - but the next run is really exciting against teams up and around us in the table,” he said.
“We’ve got four games in a short space of time and they’re all really good challenges. Three of them are away but our away form has been really good.
“The home game against Bradford will be a good one because they’ll bring a good following and I know we’ll have great support on Boxing Day.
“The most important one at the moment is Northampton and if we can get a result down there it tees us up nicely for the next three.
“It’s a really exciting period of the season. I always quite like that we’re working over Christmas because you can really get stuck into it. I’m looking forward to it and I’m sure the players will be as well.”
“I think we’ve done alright during the season so far, but I still think there’s more to come from us,” he concluded. “The fans come to the games and they can see we’ve done well, but I do feel like there’s more to come from the whole group.
“We’re not content with where we are, we feel there’s more to come, and it’s up to us all to pull together and make sure we can maximise the potential we’ve got in the squad.
“If we can go down to Northampton and get a result it sets us up really well for Boxing Day. That’ll be a game with two teams in the top seven or eight, our home support will be big, and it will make for a great occasion.
“Look, they’re a good side, they’re bound to have been stung with the way they didn’t go up last season, but fair play because they’ve put that aside and carried on the good form. They’re consistent and they’ll give us a good game.
“Three of the next four are away from home but we don’t mind that. We’ll be beyond half way once they’re done and we’ve always said that if we can stay up where we are, top seven or eight, or whatever, it’ll keep things exciting for us.
“All of the opponents coming up will be a good challenge but it’s one we’re looking forward to.”