Pugh talks prior to Gateshead away

Tom Pugh has looked ahead to the Good Friday away game, where the Iron will take on Gateshead in the Vanarama National League.

The midfielder began by speaking about the past week, following defeat against Torquay last Saturday. He said: “It’s been tough to take in. We went into the game knowing we could win so coming away with no points isn’t what we wanted. We have to put it behind us now and go ahead.”

Tom then spoke about how the team look to approach the end of the season, adding: “Even if we win our last five games, there’s still a possibility that we go down. I think we just have to go in to every game confident we can win them, they’re all winnable games, so that’s all we can do. We’ll take it game by game.”

On Friday's fixture, he said: “Gateshead are who we’re chasing so it’ll be a good game for us. It’s a chance for us to close the gap again and put the pressure on them as well. They’re in form but anyone in this league can beat anyone. We’ve done that this year when we’ve beat teams in the play-offs but lost games that we should win. We have to go into the game knowing we can win.”

Pugh then touched on what first team manager Jimmy Dean has said to the team pre-match. He said: “He wants energy and the work ethic that we had against Wealdstone. They play out a lot so we need to press them and hopefully win the ball back high, as that gives us a chance closer to the net.”

The midfielder then spoke about his own hamstring injury and how he’s recovered, saying: “I’m spot on. It was one of them where I felt a niggle and I felt it time and again in the Solihull game and the Dagenham game. I felt it and tried to work through, but the last thing I want it to make it worse so they had to pull me out.”

Finally, Pugh praised the fans and their constant support, saying: “You can’t ask for anything more from the fans. They’ve supported us all the way this season. Hopefully, tomorrow we can get three points for them.”