Graham Kavanagh on the Crewe game
Assistant manager Graham Kavanagh spoke to us on Tuesday night following the 0-0 draw with Crewe at Brunton Park.
“I thought it was two sides playing football without getting the goals,” he said. “Both managers will be disappointed from their point of view that they didn’t get the result but that’s the way the game went.
“They’ve hit the bar and we’ve hit the post but there wasn’t too much else in it. Ultimately we need to create more and have a little bit more in the way of quality at the end of it.”
“I think we had more of the ball in the wide areas,” he added. “We were lacking a cutting edge in this one. We got it on Saturday with Jake [Jervis] and we thought that bringing Joe Garner on might add it for us tonight.
“We’re pleased with the clean sheet and with the spirit the boys have shown, and we’re just asking for a little bit more in the final third.”
“It took us a while to get going and I’m not too sure why that is,” he admitted. “It’s been the case for the last four or five weeks and you start to wonder if it’s the warm-up or something like that. I’m the one who takes that and to be honest the lads have been different class, so that isn’t the problem.
“We keep reminding them about how much we believe in them but it’s almost like a boxing contest at the moment. We’re waiting for the first punch to land before we react. We keep ramming it down their throats that we need to be quicker with the tempo and we need to be faster when we start. The good thing is that the commitment was there and it’s just a little bit of quality we need now.”
“With Brad Potts, it was a case of needs must,” he explained. “We didn’t have any other midfield players available and we know he can do a job. As he gets more belief in himself, as we saw in the second half, he starts to go box to box and that will all come with experience.
“We brought Joe Garner on and if I’m being honest I thought he looked like he needed a game. His honesty and endeavour, and his understanding of how to get his body in the way, were there for everyone to see. He’s an intelligent footballer and if the chances are provided he will definitely get us goals.”
“Looking at the last two games I’d say we were pleased with the result on Saturday because it’s one we might have lost,” he said. “This one was probably two points lost. That’s no disrespect to Crewe but we wanted to take the points to send us into the weekend on a real high.”
United Player subscribers can see a video interview with Graham Kavanagh later today. For more information on United Player, and to subscribe, click HERE.
