Andy, looking back on last Friday, do the positives outweigh the negatives in terms of there was a lot of good stuff there although you didn’t quite play the football you wanted, or is it still that last-minute goal?
There were an awful lot of positives in the first half. There were not as many positives in the second half attacking-wise, but we defended superbly in the second half, so I’m sure the defenders would be fuming with you if you said there weren’t as many positives in the second half as there were in the first.
Being purists, we wanted to keep the ball a lot more and we didn’t have a shot on target in the second half, so we need to be a lot better in those moments. We need to understand there is going to be pressure but we continue to want to play our football.
We’re devastated to concede the goal in the 95th minute. On the balance of play, the draw was probably the fair result, but when you get into those late stages you’re hoping you can see it through and get the three points.
It’s part of our learning. We’re still a young group, a newly promoted side and we’re still figuring out where we are in the league, so there are loads of positives but we need to be better in certain moments.
Watching the team from the start of the season, you can see the developments and improvements. How much further can you go? Are you going to be a mid-table team or can you aim higher than that?
We’ll never aim to be a mid-table team. We go game by game if I’m being honest, so we try to win the next game as you can tell from every game we’ve been here.
I think it is Joey’s 100th game on Saturday and I’ve not seen us go for a draw in any of the 99 previously. We always try to win the game and Saturday will be no different, Bolton was no different.
We’ve got to be better in those final moments, and that’s even in the 50th minute. For example, we might play a certain pass that will allow the opposition to then counter us. It is tiny moments in every single moment of the game that are so important for us.
On the training ground, we work on certain moments and situations that might happen in a game and we’ve got to be better and more consistent.
Are we happy with where we are in the league? No, I think we could be better.
Everyone has seen where we are. Certainly, last-minute goals are hurting us at the minute. Luckily for us, we know where we are and we understand how to improve the team.
As the season goes on, we will get better. It will be pretty similar to last year, hopefully.
Is that a realistic expectation? If you’re sat with a couple of fans, can you say ‘We’re not definitely going to do it, but we feel we are in with a decent chance of surging into the play-offs’?
I know it is cliché, but we go by the next game. Can we win the next game? Yeah.
Do I think we’ll come late (in the season)? Yeah, I do, but I won’t be able to tell you where I think we’ll end up.
I think we will be better in the second half of the season than we’ve been in the first half of the season. We’ve got to work every single day towards being that.
What are the lessons, particularly for the younger players who haven’t played at this level, and where do you see the improvements already from the start of the season? What are you better at now than you were back in August?
I think the belief is an awful lot higher. I also think because we had a new group and we had a lot of new players, it just takes time to bed in and figure out what Bobby Thomas is really good at, what Lewis Gibson is really good at, how can we get the best out of them for the team to work within the system?
I think that takes longer than a pre-season. What you’re seeing now is all the work we did five months ago in pre-season come to fruition now. You’re seeing us dominate the ball, you’re seeing us concede less chances and create more chances.
Within that is the answer. We need to concede even less chances and we need to take more of the chances that we are creating.
It’s just time, time on the training ground, it’s trust, it’s that level of discipline that you need in certain moments to be better and, just like last season, we will get better as the year goes on.
And it’s about finding the balance and combinations within the team. You look at you’re strongest team now and it might not be what fans would have expected at the start of the season. There is a bit of alchemy to this and nobody knows until you’re put in that situation.
The team that starts the season in any team isn’t the team that finishes the season. You might start the season with a starting XI, but that’s never going to be the same towards the back end of the season.
Is that because of the level we’re at, is that because of the players? It might happen for Liverpool, but at this level, that is not going to happen.
It is a squad game and we’ve got a really young side here, a really vibrant young team. At certain stages of the season, people will be in form and people won’t be. It is on us to decide who that is.
They are like plants. You water this plant and it might grow a bit quicker than another plant, and you’ve got to be aware of that.
A really young side, one we’re working with every day and we’re really delighted to work with them. We’ve got an amazing group, they are so receptive and they want to do well every single day.
Training is at a level that a lot of fans would love to see and it’s great working with them, but like always, you want it yesterday. Everyone is impatient in football and I understand that, but the longer we work with these lads, the better they will become.
We saw Harry Anderson doing a fair bit of work up at Bolton. Is he now available for selection at the weekend?
He’s definitely in contention. Unfortunately, he was out for about five weeks so we’ve got to be careful. It would be silly and very naïve to rush him back.
We’ve got a very good squad and we’ll go manage his situation day by day. There are a couple of lads who we’re managing in at the moment, but Harry will definitely be available to play on Saturday, maybe not to start but he’ll be involved.
H is a great player for us and he’s done ever so well. He’s played in every single position except centre-half, so he’s one we’re delighted to get back, not only for the team but also for the lads. He’s really well thought of in the group so hopefully he can be back in soon.
And are there no more major knocks in the week or any illnesses to worry about after what’s happened over the past few weeks?
No. In the winter months, you have to expect a bit of illness. I think a bug was going around and people have kids bringing it home, so you can’t do anything about that.
We’ve got an unbelievable sport science department who try to stay on that, making sure the lads are eating the right food. We do try to stay on top of that and the lads are really fit and they look after themselves, so hopefully we’ve seen the back end of that and we can move forward into the Christmas run.
Port Vale this weekend, who you had a good couple of battles with last season. It’s one of those where you’ll know plenty about them and likewise about you.
They are a newly-promoted side who have acquitted themselves superbly in this league. Darrell will be delighted with the start he has had.
We know Darrell and his staff. They’ve got a great staff there. David Flitcroft, who is the director of football there, we know an awful lot of them and we’re friendly off the pitch.
On the pitch on Saturday, we want to impose our will and our football on them. We know what they will bring and we will have to be at our best to beat Port Vale on Saturday.
They are solid citizens, they do really well, they work really hard for Darrell and they’ve got a great team spirit there, so what we’re going to do is what we always do. We will prepare superbly and the best team will win on Saturday.
Andy, I think coincidentally you did the pre-match press for the Port Vale home game last season and you singled out Ben Garrity as a player to watch. He went on to get a double in that game. Do you still see him as a key player you have to look out for and are there any other names you would pick out in their squad that have impressed you this season?
Ben Garrity is a good player and he’s someone we’re going to have to take care of, but they’ve got other players. (James) Wilson has done really well for them, (David) Worrall has been a wing-back for them and has done really well. Ellis Harrison, as well.
They’ve got a really good side. They are like us, they’ve got a really good team spirit. It’s not one player who you must take care of.
We’ve just got to make sure we match their physicality and then we’ll be able to play our football and we can create chances against them and we can expose their weaknesses as opposed to them exposing ours.
Looking forward to the challenge, as always, and this is going to be a challenge. It might take 70 minutes to break the deadlock and we’ve got to be on our mettle on Saturday.
Just to build off one of the questions about the illness, is Ryan Loft fully fit and available after missing the last game?
Lofty is in the building and hopefully Lofty will be available. They are all back in training now. There is nothing to report, luckily for us.
Paul Coutts has been back in training this week which has given the lads an unbelievable lift because Couttsy is such a big character for us and a massive leader and a real big part of everything we do.
Nothing to report. We have a clean bill of health and we are ready to rock and roll.
Joey had mentioned last week that Paul had started training solo. Is he now back in full team training?
He’s back in with the lads and he was the best player in training today, so we’re probably going to start him up front after today’s performance because he looked like he could score a right few goals. Couttsy’s back in and he’s doing great.
Jerry Lawrence was out there today. He’s had a little knock so he was with the sports scientist and he’s doing really well.
Josh Grant has just had his second operation, which is brilliant because Josh is a fantastic player who we miss every week, not only around the training ground but on the pitch because he’s such a good player.
His operation was a success and I’m delighted for him because he can move forward with his career.
Is Paul in contention for Saturday or will you have to manage him carefully?
Of course he is, mate. He’s Paul Coutts, he’ll be available.
You’ve got a young defence and they performed so well at Bolton. What is the man management process after being breached so late on after a great effort in the second half?
We man manage everyone, but in terms of the younger players, we have to do more with the younger players anyway because not only do they have to do the sessions with us, they also have to do extra sessions.
That may be video sessions or that may be extra sessions on the grass because they’re still in a development stage of their career.
We always have to do more with the younger players. Not only are they growing as players but they are also growing as men and we have to manage them carefully.
On Friday night against Bolton, it was the second phase of a set play and we study the games in their entirety. We defended unbelievably well at certain times.
For as good as we were at certain times in the first half going forwards, the lads defensively in the second half were unbelievable.
We’ve got to make sure that every time people play against Bristol Rovers, there is 98-99 minutes – because we’re the only team in League One that has to play possibly over 100 minutes, we get the most extra time in the league and that is a fact – so we’ve got to take it on even more and be better in those final moments.
Can we come up with better solutions as a staff and then pass that on to the players? That is something we’re working on, but the young players have done great.
Josh Coburn is getting a lot of praise at the moment, but you as a striker yourself must see so much in his game at a young age. He has just turned 20. He scores so many goals in poachers’ positions and some people might say they are easy goals, but if everybody could do that, everybody would score 30 a season. He seems a special talent.
Josh is a great player. He is far better than me, so I just admire him and try to work with him every day.
Josh is here to learn a different side of the game that he’s not been exposed to before. He is playing every week, he’s having to get on with a new set of players, he’s having to get on with a new set of players, he’s having to play a new style of football than he’s used to, and he is doing fantastically.
There is still so much more to come from Josh. We haven’t seen the best of him yet.
He’s still getting fit because he was injured for a period of time at the start of the season, so Josh will get better and better and better.
The likes of Aaron Collins have been great also with Josh. If we play three up front with Harry Anderson or Antony Evans or Scotty (Sinclair) or Ryan Loft or John Marquis, we’ve got great competition for places.
Josh has done great and no doubt he will do even better as the season goes on.
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