Watson: We need to put in a performance Ray would be proud of

Goalkeeper Rory Watson is fully focused on getting an important three points against Salford City at the weekend.

On Saturday, Watson will be wearing a specially-made shirt in tribute to legendary former Iron No 1 and Vice President Ray Clemence on a day when the club plan to remember him and his impact on the sport in this country.

Watson told iFollow Iron: “He’s just a true hero of the game and everyone knows who Ray Clemence was. It’s just a true honour to be remembering him and be the one who is wearing his shirt on Saturday. I think it’s a lovely touch for him and his family. I’m sure Ray will be watching and right behind us; we need to make sure we put in a performance he can be proud of.”

The 25-year-old also reflected on the Papa John's Trophy group stage game against Doncaster Rovers in midweek and said: “We conceded three goals which were disappointing but it was the first chance for some of the lads to show what they’re about. It’s nice to get some minutes into some people’s legs. For example, Alex Kenyon’s not played for a long time. It’s good for everyone to get a runout and get ready for Saturday and implement what the new gaffer wants in a big game."

He added “I don’t think we played bad on Tuesday and we played well last Saturday. It’s disappointing because we conceded such sloppy goals and it’s always hard to come back from a 3-0 deficit. The lads showed a bit of heart, a bit of passion and we tried to come back and draw the game. But we couldn’t do it and now we move on."

Mentioning how the new manager Keith Hill has been implementing his methods, he said: “He’s told us what he wants. We’ve spent a full week working with him now and last Saturday he’d only arrived on Friday, so he hadn’t had a lot of time to get his values across and how he wants to play to us. Everyone is buying into it and we’re all looking forward to hopefully putting in a good performance on Saturday.

“His experience will help a lot of the younger lads and try to help us through what is a tough period. We need results and we need them quick. We need to bounce back on Saturday against Salford.”

Looking ahead to Hill’s first league game in charge, Watson said: “I think anyone’s capable of getting wins in this league if you play well, keep clean sheets and work hard for each other. I think we're capable of beating anyone.

“We’re going to be fighting for those points on Saturday. There have two quality ex-Iron players in (Matthew) Lund and Josh Morris so we know they’re dangerous. We’ve got to try and not give away any stupid set-pieces away because we know the quality that they have.”

See much more from Rory Watson and Keith Hill on iFollow Iron.