Interview with left back Chris Chantler
Defender Chris Chantler spoke to us this week about his own form and about the difficult run of results experienced by the side at the moment.
“We seem to be conceding soft goals, that’s the easiest way to put it,” he said. “It’s quite frustrating because we feel we were getting back to defending well, but the last two games have been nowhere near the standard we have been looking for.”
“We work hard on the training pitch but we have to start taking that into games,” he added. “We’re looking for clean sheets and we work to try and protect our own goal. Obviously we aren’t going to win games when we are conceding three or four goals at home, and we need to start performing better as a whole unit - not just as a back four. From there we’ll probably start conceding less and go on to win more games.”
Talking more about the home form he admitted that the lads were determined to make things better.
“The pressure is on us to win games at home, but that’s the same for any club,” he told us. “Away from home we can sit there and try and hit teams on the break. At home we’re a little bit more open and it’s not really going well for us. Then if we do concede one, the fans aren’t happy and we can hear that. That then brings a little bit of pressure; it may be a confidence thing at home as well but we’ve just got to try and get over that.”
“I think it’s down to us all to put things right,” he said. “You have to really look at yourself and your personal levels. You’ve got to keep your own performance to the standard you want it to be, rather than look to older lads to inspire you. What we’ve got to do first and foremost is go to Yeovil on Saturday and get a win. If we can do that then maybe we can start to look at other games, get a few good results and then it’ll all seem much better for us. The way to start all of that off, as I say, is by getting to Yeovil and getting a win.”
And on the heel injury which has kept him out of a number of training sessions recently, he explained: “It’s getting better. I wouldn’t say I’m fully fit, but I’m close. A couple of weeks ago it was at a point where I couldn’t really run, which is a problem when you’re trying to play football! When I was putting my weight through the heel I was in a lot of pain and I had to come off in a couple of games. I think I’m almost over it now so things should be a lot better for me.”
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