We spoke to Steven Rudd, ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fleetwood Town.
He spoke on preparation, and having a full week of training:
“It's been another positive week so far. Good reaction coming out of the Bradford game from the lads. We debriefed that on Monday, looked at the positives from it and then obviously the areas where we still need to be better.
“Today was really lively, positive and enthusiastic, so we want to take that into tomorrow as well.
“Overall, it’s been a really positive week, we’ve reflected on what went well and what went not so good at Bradford. And we're looking to be better this Saturday against Fleetwood. Little minor tweaks with the aim of getting a positive result on Saturday."
On the importance of having that full week between games, Steven said:
“We've had four days out on the grass along with team meetings and analysing clips. There was some good bits, but lots of little details need to be better.
“That's what we're looking to do against Fleetwood on the weekend, is just do the basics even better. Not change the way we play, but do the things that we are doing better to hurt the opposition more. “
Steven also spoke on Tuesday’s youth team match away at Morecambe, with the Blues running out 3-2 winners:
“Mark [Birch] and Jamie [Devitt] went down to Morecambe on Tuesday. So we took training in the morning here, that was an afternoon kick-off. They had a good win down at Morecambe, that's us played three, won three in the cup.
“It's been another busy week, a good week, and hopefully we can finish it off on Saturday with three points at home, that’s the most important thing.”
On the manager situation, and any updates, Steven said:
“Nigel [Clibbens] and Tom [Piatak] have been away from the club most of the week.
“They've come back in today, spoke to the players and staff this morning, just to update us on what's been happening and where they've been. No names have mentioned, just discussing the process they've been going through and what stage they're at. I think that's been refreshing for the players.
“It's always nice to know what's going on. But we can't control that, that's above us. We've got a game to prepare for Saturday.
“They're further down the road today than they were at the start of the week, so that's all positive. Who knows what will come next week, but that can't be a distraction for us.
“We've got a job to do as players and staff for Saturday. So we have to do our job first and that'll take care of itself.”
In terms of a time frame for being in charge, Steven said:
“This weekend could potentially be the last one. Things can change and things happen, things come out of the blue.
“So who knows? We might not even be in charge of Saturday yet. We're planning on everything going ahead and preparing as well as we can.
“If it is the last one, we want to finish it with three points to have helped improve the league position. The lads have been very good for a couple of weeks now. The only way of showing that is by getting three points on Saturday.”
As for what kind of game he expected from Fleetwood, Steven said:
"We've watched their games back and we've highlighted what we think are their strengths and weaknesses in terms of formation, personnel, and we've watched their clips. So I think it's got the potential to be a very, very good game. You've got two teams that have both come down last year.
“Both clubs are fighting to try and get back up at the first attempt. And both teams have got good players.
“We expect three points on Saturday. We’re at home, we've got excellent players, but we do know we have to nullify their threats and stop their strength in the game. They've only lost once in the league as well, and they play some good football.
‘They're possession based. They like to have the football. So we need to find ways of stopping that.
“We want to be on the front foot. We want the football. We want to go and dominate the game, get goals, shots, crosses and get our fans behind us.
“We'll go toe-to-toe with them. We'll have a right good go. But we want to put our style and authority onto the game.”
On to injuries, Steven began by discussing Ben Williams, who came off injured against Bradford last Saturday:
“Ben's injury is a little bit longer term. He'll be numerous weeks. But thankfully, it's not as bad as we all first thought on Saturday down at Bradford.
“He is in a knee brace, just for non-weight bearing. But, he'll be weeks rather than months. He doesn't need an operation.
On other injuries, Steven explained:
“We've got a few little niggles and knocks and we're going to give them as long as we can into Saturday. So there's two or three that were kind of nursing through the week.
“They'll be reassessed again tomorrow with the best chance of being available for Saturday. We're going to give them as long as we can because we need 18 players on Saturday that'll run through walls.
“We need to win. We need to get the season going. So, we'll give them as long as we can.
There's two or three of them in the hope that they'll come through for Saturday.”
On Aaron Hayden and Terell Thomas, Steven said:
“They're in the same boat. They'll get as long as they need, as long as they can.
“Ideally, we want them all available for Saturday and there's a chance they might be. So we'll reassess them in the morning, get our team sorted, get training planned and organised and then build into Saturday.
Callum Guy returned to training with the lads this week, Steven spoke about that:
“Yeah, he's been back on the grass a couple of days this week, joining in some bits of non-contact, and in some parts he’s been joining in fully.
“He's a good footballer. If that's him coming back from months out, it's very exciting to see him fully fit again. He's enthusiastic too. It's great to have him and Jack Robinson back.
“Jack's trained all week as well. Great to have them both backing around the group. They've both been out a long, long time, but two very good characters and two very good footballers that'll be back, hopefully, quite soon.
On other long-term injuries: Ethan Robson, Taylor Charters and Georgie Kelly, Steven said:
“Ethan and Taylor, they're both back on the grass. Running and doing bits of ball work, not with the main group.
“So, with them, it's just a case of building them up slowly. But again, when they're working alongside the group and out there on the grass, it's a positive sign.
“Georgie's not back on the grass yet, but he was in yesterday on his day off using the gym. So, hopefully all three aren't majorly long-term. Ethan and Taylor are probably the next two back over the coming weeks.”
On Saturday, and the urge to get three points, Steven said:
“I mean, we were desperate to win last week, but even more so now again this week. That one's gone. It's put to bed.
“This is massive on Saturday because who knows who's in the crowd, who's watching, what things are happening off the field. But if it is our last one, it's a great way to finish and wrap up the two weeks. We were disappointed last week, but we want to get three points on Saturday.
“Your whole week is defined by what happens between three and five o'clock on Saturday. You could have the best week training and lose on Saturday and the whole week counts for nothing.
Or you could have a really bad week, win on Saturday, and it's actually not too bad.
“The most important thing is that between three and five o'clock on Saturday, we get three points. However we do it, whatever it looks like, in all honesty, probably doesn't really matter.
"As long as we've come off at five o'clock with three points, and we'll roll into next week.”
