United manager Graham Alexander says he and his players won’t change their mentality going into Saturday’s away clash with Coventry City.
The game at the Ricoh Arena will be a tough one in Alexander’s eyes, but he stated it’s up to the Iron to take the game to the Sky Blues.Speaking to The Iron PlayerHD, Alexander said: “We know it’ll be a tough game, but we don’t change our focus because we want to win every game, and Saturday’s no different for us.
“They’ve (Coventry) picked up of late, but for me it’s irrelevant. We look at what the individuals can do and what the team does as a whole, but we focus on ourselves. I think it’s worked for us in whatever competition we’ve played in.
“Home or away, we’ve always looked like a team that wants to win the game and we won’t change anything for the foreseeable future, and certainly not for Saturday.”
Alexander revealed he has selection issues ahead of the encounter, with several players returning after short rest periods.
He also highlighted the performances of those who featured in Tuesday night’s victory over Cambridge, and explained that it’ll be tough to leave certain members of the squad out.
“We’ll look to pick the team which we feel has the best chance of winning on Saturday, and who deserves to play,” Alexander explained.
“We know from the last two games that we’ve got more than 11 players that deserve to play, and who are desperate to play the game.
“David Mirfin, Neal Bishop and Stephen Dawson have all had a break from the rigours of first team football, which I think will do them all good for the long-term.
“We want everyone to be as fit as they can all the way through the season. We gave Josh (Morris) a breather on Tuesday, it’s nothing to do with age. If you look at those four lads, they’ve been performing to an excellent level.”
On the injury front, the Iron boss says there are one or two concerns, but on the whole he believes he’s got strong numbers.
“Tom Hopper will be assessed, he’s been with the lads who played the other day doing the usual recovery,” he revealed.
“He was struggling with a little bit of stiffness and pain in his shoulder. It was the shoulder he injured last year, so there’s an extra precaution around that.
“Paddy Madden is still with the medical team as well, so we’re doubtful whether he’ll be available for Saturday.
“Apart from that, everyone else has come through the games unscathed, so we should be okay squad wise for the rest of the group.”
See much more from Graham Alexander, Josh Morris and Conor Townsend on The Iron PlayerHD.
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