Defender Dave Symington on a new type of challenge
Defender Dave Symington spoke to us about the disappointment of the manner in which last season ended for the club and about his determination to fight for his place and to help to put things right once the squad gets back together in July.
“I think, when you support a team, it really hurts if you get relegated,” he said. “It’s even worse for me because the team I support is the one I play for.
“The wounds are really fresh from going down and it’s still horrible to think about it. At the moment it’s a case of dealing with it and making sure I get in the right frame of mind to help to put things right next season.”
“I’m still at the point where whenever I sit down I still feel awful,” he told us. “It really has started to sink in that we’ll be in League Two and it’s something none of us wanted.
“The worst feeling of all is that we can’t do anything about it any more. We’re down now, so it’s all about picking ourselves up and getting things in place for a much better season ahead.
“I’ve spoken to a few of the lads who are staying and we all feel the same. We feel really responsible and we just want to put it right.”
“It’s not something I’ve been able to switch off from,” he admitted. “Obviously it’s important to relax but I think we’ll all be starting our fitness work almost right away. We want to get back and get on with it as quickly as possible.
“I suppose the positive for me from last season was the fact I got myself into the side and I stayed there. My aim next season has to be to cement that and keep it going.
“Kav has been brilliant for us with the way he has done things and we all feel like we let him down a little bit as well. If I can get my name on the team sheet every week it’ll mean I’m helping to put things right for everybody.”
And on his spell at right back which brought him a run of nine consecutive starts at the end of the season, he said: “I really enjoyed it. My first game in that position was up against Alan Judge, when we played Brentford, and that was a huge learning curve for me.
“It’s been a great experience and I think I’ve got better as the games have gone on. I was very grateful to be given the chance and I think, overall, I probably took the opportunity quite well. The fact is that I’d play absolutely anywhere as long as it meant I was in the team, so it’s just fantastic to be involved.
“I think one of the areas I do want to improve is to add a few goals to my play. I need to sort my free kicks out, because they haven’t gone right for me for a while now, and it’s an area where I should contribute more to the team.”
“It’s a new type of challenge for us next year,” he agreed. “It’s a different league, but I know I’ll be looking forward to it once I’ve got my head round what has just happened. We’ll have a lot of new faces to work with and I think that will help, because they won’t have had the disappointment we’ve had.
“Hopefully it will all come together and we’ll be challenging at the right end of the table, which is where we all want to be.”
