Manager Graham Alexander is focusing on the qualities his side have when Charlton Athletic visit Glanford Park on Saturday.
The Iron have won their last five league games and he will be hoping his team can continue with their impressive form.
Alexander spoke to iFollow Iron about the game on Saturday, providing the latest team news and gave his thoughts on assistant manager Chris Lucketti’s departure to Bury.
ON CHRIS LUCKETTI LEAVING TO MANAGE BURY…
GA: I’m disappointed from my perspective because I’ve worked with him for nearly five-and-a-half years too at Preston, Fleetwood and here. We had a fantastic and successful time. I’m am happy for him because it’s an opportunity we thought would always come up at some point. I’ve always said to him that he should consider everything. I think it helps that you go to a club that you know so well and have got a good connection with the supporters. I understand the lure of that job, similar to me coming back to here. I know he will do a good job because he is a fantastic man and a fantastic football man.
ON HIS PLANS FOR THE BACKROOM STAFF…
GA: I’m not going to do anything until after the weekend because I want to concentrate on the game. I want to get the players prepared for that with the staff that we have. We’ve still got very good staff and everything in place to prepare the lads as well as possible. Then after the game, I will have a few days to have a proper think about it without the distraction of a game.
"For us, all games are big especially when you’re playing teams at the top end. Every game has a challenge and it’s important to find the tools to overcome that challenge."
ON PLAYING SIDES TOWARDS THE TOP OF THE TABLE…
GA: For us, all games are big especially when you’re playing teams at the top end. Every game has a challenge and it’s important to find the tools to overcome that challenge. We did that brilliantly on Tuesday. We had to show a different side to us because against Northampton we showed all our attacking qualities and then against Bradford we showed all of our defensive qualities. We made it tough for Bradford to break us down and then we showed a bit of quality with the free kick to win the game.
ON CHARLTON ATHLETIC…
GA: They’re a massive club at this level with a great backing, fantastic squad and a very good manager in Karl Robinson. The expectation for them is to be in the promotion shake-up, but my focus is on us. It’s important we recognise what a good team we are, the ambitions we have and the desire we have to win. The lads have been fantastic to show that desire, to first all perform and then to win.
ON JOSH MORRIS AND LEE NOVAK'S RECOVERIES…
GA: Saturday will probably be too soon for Josh but we want to give him the chance. The other doubt is Lee Novak, who obviously went off on Tuesday. We will assess him and have a look. He’s been carrying it for a couple weeks so we know he’s a hardy lad, but we don’t want to put him at too much of a risk.
ON THE REPLACEMENT FOR NOVAK…
GA: We know what Paddy Madden, Kevin van Veen and Clayton Lewis are capable of. We’ve got a few options there to directly replace Novak if he’s not fit or we can change the shape a little bit to give us the best chance of winning. We know we’ve got a competitive squad and can call upon several players outside of the starting eleven from Tuesday to come in at any time and play.
ON THE LONG-TERM ABSENTEES…
GA: They won’t be training at all, so they won’t be in contention for Saturday. Simon Church possibly might train next week, but the other boys are still quite far away. They all want to be fit to play football matches. Church has come here to get his career back up and running and play games.
ON RETURNING TO GLANFORD PARK…
GA: The backing away from home has been superb. We constantly need it and the players need it. They always respond to it so hopefully we get that again on Saturday, but we have to give them something to grab hold of.
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