Accrington Stanley have lost four in a row, are they any more vulnerable than they were?
Who knows? They are still a league above us so on paper they are a better team than us. But we were a league above Ebbsfleet and they made it tough for us, so it’s up to us to go and make it tough for them.
Will they see this game as a chance to bounce back?
I’d imagine they’ll be looking at it in the same way as us. You are 90 minutes from a big tie. They are in League One, but they’re a small club so I am guessing not just the prize money, but the potential draw against one of the big boys with the gate receipts and all the exposure you get, that’s not why you want to win the game, as it’s a game of football, but they’ll be looking at it as a passage to the next round.
Where are they particularly dangerous?
They have carried on from last year really. They have really good energy and they play a really fluid 4-4-2, with players popping up somewhere and then another person pops up in his position, so they rotate really well. They are similar to Newport in a way, they are all in it together, muck and nettles, they keep going and they keep going. That’s what John (Coleman) has done, he’s instilled a real team belief and a team ethic. They’ve had a bit of a dip recently, but I think for them to be where they are in League One, nobody would have predicted that, even after four defeats.
Is there anything you can learn from the way John Coleman goes about his business?
You can learn from anybody, anybody who has been in the job longer than I have, which is most people. I know John quite well. I did my A Licence with Jimmy Bell, his assistant. I went to watch them quite a bit last year because one of my young players at Burnley was playing for them and it’s down the road from Burnley as well so it’s almost like everyone’s neutral team up there because you have Blackburn and Burnley either side, so Accrington seems to be the neutral team for either Blackburn or Burnley fans.
Despite the loss midweek, you have been in good form. What’s confidence like?
I have not seen the players yet this morning. I’d like to think they are not too downbeat. We played against a good team and they had five shots on target and scored four, so they were clinical. They were better than us on the night, we didn’t have enough that quite turned up. But since we changed the formation we’ve played four games, three of which were against teams in the top six and we’ve picked up seven points. Picking up seven points from four games, you’d take that all day long for every block of four games.
A 4-1 loss is still a 4-1 loss even if it’s against one of the best teams in the league. Is there anything you have learned that you didn’t know before?
We need to turn up and do better than what we did. The scoreline masks it and it wasn’t a 4-1 game. They have had five shots on target, so Scott (Flinders) has made one save and he had no chance with the goals. Speaking to their staff afterwards, they were quite complimentary about us. I had a few people watching the game as complete neutrals and they’ve given me feedback and I am not downbeat at all. Where we are in the league, we’ve just played two teams in the top five or six, if you win one, lose one, we’ll be all right.
Any injuries to mention?
Not that I know of. We’ll have to make another call on Jacob (Maddox), but we’ve had the same conversation for the past week now. Kelsey Mooney missed out on Tuesday due to a slight niggle, but hopefully he will be back involved.
With Jacob Maddox, could you risk him but you won’t want to lose him for a longer period?
He has not been fit. He’s been close, but he’s not been fit. Everyone wants Jacob back, I want Jacob back, but I want Daws back and Longy back too. If you are not fit, you are not fit. I don’t get the, ‘he’s 85 per cent fit’, he’s not fit. With the injury that it is, if it was the FA Cup final, would you risk him and he might break after 20 minutes, you probably would, but there are a lot of league games to go between now and the end of the season and cup games too so it he’s not right, he won’t play.
A lot of travelling this week and a journey you know very well. What’s the plan for the next couple of days?
It was a late night on Tuesday and it’s a long way to go. We will train as normal on Thursday, keeping it light and bright, short and sharp and try to get the energy up and get a buzz about the place as well. We have lost one game of football after seven without losing, so you can’t be up there one minute and down there the next and I don’t think we are. After certain defeats we have been a little bit flat because you do scratch your head about where we are and what we can do, but I don’t think we are there now. We are still third bottom of the league, but there are signs of progress and we know we need to keep improving and getting better. Friday we’ll travel up and train at Burnley, so we’ll get the journey out of the way early so hopefully we don’t get stuck in the Friday night rush hour and then travel to the hotel from there.
Will consistency from you lead to a consistent team?
I think I am pretty grounded as regards to not getting too high, but I am not a depressant either, so as long as you can see progress and you can see the players wanting to do what you want to do. You asked me the other day, was my voice hoarse from shouting at the players after the game. I didn’t even raise my voice to the players. They need that sometimes, but the other night just taught us the benchmark of where we want to get to. We weren’t quite at it and didn’t quite believe enough, showing them too much respect, but from me, it’s about being level headed. We went on an unbeaten run and everyone started getting carried away, but we are still third from bottom. As long as the players keep improving and wanting to learn, which they have done since day one, their application in training has been good, so we have to keep working hard.
Does it feel like a semi-final against Accrington?
I haven’t thought of it like that, but no because if we do win we don’t get a medal if we lose the next game. But I understand it. The players won’t need any motivating because of the opportunity in the lower league. In the top two leagues I do think the FA Cup has been devalued a little bit. It's not seen as a nuisance, but it can sometimes get in the way a bit because they don’t need the money, whereas the glamour is still there for the lower league teams, because of the financial aspects and the players get opportunities to play in big grounds in front of 40,50 or 60,000 people, which is why we are all here.
Do you think the catchment area helps Accrington when it comes to signing players?
They are all Mancs or Scousers, so it probably does help because of the fall out and there are so many clubs in that North West area, you can attract. Here it’s more of a rugby area and it’s an hour or 45 minutes to Bristol or Birmingham. Accrington do use it to their advantage and pick up some good players.
Will you enjoy going back to Burnley’s training ground?
I am not looking forward to going up the motorway again! The first team and Under-23s won’t be there. There will be a few support staff there, but it’s nice to be able to use that contact so you don’t have to train and then spend up to six hours on a coach, without a training session to get the journey out of their legs. That’s the key, being able to travel up, get the journey out of their legs and go to the hotel and prepare. It’s not always available, but hopefully it’ll be a small margin that can help us.
