Dean updates ahead of Aldershot trip

First team manager Jimmy Dean has reflected on the week gone by and previewed Saturday’s away game, where the Iron will take on Aldershot in the Vanarama National League.

He began by speaking about the mood in the camp after Monday's defeat to Oldham Athletic, which confirmed the Iron’s relegation to National League North. Dean said: “Obviously, the mood is a bit sombre which is inevitable after a relegation. We’ve got a responsibility to pick ourselves up, and to try and get a few points on the board before the end of the season.” 

Jimmy then spoke about the team moving forward, adding: “The plan is to play the players who are committed to the club, but we can’t have that everywhere, as we’re down to the bare bones with injuries and some players being unavailable. We’ll also look at a few boys for next year, a few know they’re playing for deals, but hopefully that’ll affect their performance.”

The boss then provided an injury report, adding: “Liam Thompson is out for the season. (His parent club) Derby have had a look at him and he’s torn his hip flexor, so they want to keep him there. Dean Rance has had injections too so he wants to have a go. Reagan Ogle didn’t train today and Will Smith has a virus and hasn’t trained the last couple of days. That’s where we’re at, with obviously the old injuries we had too.” 

The manager also said what his message to the players is going into the Aldershot game, adding: “Aldershot are still in a relegation battle so my message is to keep it honest, it’s not fair on the other teams if we don’t play the game properly or don't put in 100%. It’s a season-long battle, whether that’s a promotion battle or a relegation battle, it’s 46 games and we need to honour our end of the bargain.”

He added: “I’ve said about professional pride the last couple of games. I thought it was better against Oldham than it was against Gateshead, but we still should be doing better. You can say about professional pride, playing for the fans, and playing for the badge but you’re in danger of becoming a broken record. There’s three games to go and I want the players to show us they care.”

Finally, he spoke about his planning for next season, adding: “There’s been two or three solid days on it already this week. There are still two weeks of this season left so we can’t be giving too much out but the initial conversations are really positive. It’s exciting and something to look forward to.”