First team manager Keith Hill has previewed this Saturday’s game against Swindon Town and reflected on the win over Walsall in a pre-match interview with iFollow Iron.
Hill began by reflecting on Tuesday’s success over the Saddlers, explaining: “I’m pleased for the players, and I’m pleased that we managed to get the three points. It was such a topsy turvy game from start to finish but I thought there was a lot of courage on display, defensive qualities, fighting qualities and sometimes that’s how you’ve got to win a game.
“I think everyone to a man realises that we’re better at the footballing element of the 90 minutes than on the night when we probably weren’t at our best. As a consequence to the sending off (of Tom Pugh on 53 minutes for two bookable offences) we did bury ourselves deep in our half of the pitch but defended really well.
"We were courageous in the way we performed, and I thought Anthony Grant was superb in his role. His game knowledge and game experience is why we brought him to the football club. It was the perfect way to see a game out.”
He added: "We want to play better football than we did on Tuesday, but for everyone connected to the football club it was a great three points.
“It was brilliant at the end celebrating the victory with our supporters and I’m really pleased for them because it’s been a difficult, turbulent season and we can’t hide away from where we are in the league. Nothing has changed in that respect but hopefully we can look at the teams above us and try to make inroads into clawing back some more points on Saturday against Swindon.”
The boss spoke about the mentality of the team too, adding: “It's about confidence. We are looking for that special ingredient, we want to try and get a sequence of results back-to-back and it’s very important that the players get confidence from the Walsall result going into the game at the weekend. We need and want back-to-backs wins, performances, and we need to be better in possession. I’m really encouraged by the squad of players we have formulated in January and I’m looking forward to our next 16 games which are cup final games, starting at the weekend.”
On fresh knocks from the Walsall game, the manager said: “We have a few but the majority of them will be okay for Saturday. I think there’s a time as well where you look at the players who’ve played the last three games in quick succession, and the players we’ve brought in in January (who are getting up to match speed), where it's necessary to rotate so you don’t have any long-term injuries.”
Finally, he finished on what to expect from Swindon: “They're a good side and they play a good brand of football. It’s a difficult opponent. Everyone was expecting them to be involved in a relegation dog fight because of everything that happened in pre-season with the takeover, change of manager, etc. However, they stabilised superbly well and concentrated on the football. It is a difficult fixture for us but one that we’re excited about and it’s a superb playing surface. I’ve got some good memories of managing teams at Swindon.”
See much more from Keith Hill and Liam Feeney on iFollow Iron.
Photo: Dan Westwell.