Midfielder Luke Joyce stepped up to take the captain’s armband for the last two home games as United played well without quite getting the points haul they deserved from their performances.
We spoke to him about what had been a frustrating week ahead of the Junior Blues training session on Tuesday afternoon.
“If felt like it should have been a week where we took nine points,” he said. “We got the first three points at Colchester out of a solid performance and we expected to pick up more than two points when we came back home.
“We were ahead in both games and we played really well in the first half of both of them. For whatever reason we didn’t play quite as well in the second half, but it’s three games unbeaten and we have to use that to build off.
“You can focus on the negative side of it if you want, but you’ve got to look on the positives and from that we’re now three games unbeaten against three good teams. That’s what we’re concentrating on right now, knowing we go into the away game at Chesterfield full of confidence.”
“Obviously it’s frustrating for everybody because we haven’t won for a number of games here at home,” he added. “People are bound to talk about it, particularly when our away form has been so good.
“I’m not sure why we aren’t picking up more points at Brunton Park but we’ve had a good go at it with the last two performances. We’ve played good football and created a lot of chances and I think it’ll come, hopefully sooner rather than later. Performance wise it’s been a good week and that’s why our focus will be on the positives rather than the negatives.”
And on pulling on that captain’s armband, he told us: “I’ve loved wearing it. It’s a great honour and I’ve enjoyed leading the lads out.
“It shows the trust and the faith the gaffer has got in me and it’s something I relish. If Danny [Grainger] is back on Saturday I’m sure he’ll have it back, but I’ve enjoyed the brief spell.”
Looking ahead to the Saturday trip to Chesterfield, he said: “We’re in great form away from home and I think Chesterfield are still waiting for their first home win under their new manager, so they’ll be up for it.
“They’ll be under pressure from their fans because of their form, and because of where they are in the league, so hopefully we can play on that. If we put in a similar performance to those at Crewe, Crawley and Colchester there’s no reason why we can’t take the three points.
“The table is so tight - I think we’re still only six points off the play-offs - and that’s on the back of two draws. It does make you think about where we would be if we’d won one or both of those games, but it’s all ifs and buts.
“Hopefully we can get the three points on Saturday to take us closer to those play-off places as we go into a good run of games where we fully believe we can take maximum points.”
And on meeting United’s young fans at the club open day, he commented: “It’s brilliant to meet our young fans and see their little faces light up when they come in and see us.
“A few of them are really shy and their parents can’t believe they aren’t speaking. It’s great to bring the kids back down to the stadium during half-term so they can get their autographs and see us train.”
Click HERE to watch an interview with Luke Joyce on iFollow United now.
