Manager Keith Curle spoke about Saturday’s visit of Grimsby Town at his Friday afternoon press conference.
“It’s always nice going into games on the back of a couple of wins,” he said. “We’ve had three good results and three good performances individually and collectively in those games.
“We’re at the stage of the season where we need to continue the run we’re on so that we keep climbing the table.
“There is a bounce around the changing room, which is created by results, because we’re all in the game to win football matches. Most of the teams above us have been on a run of back-to-back victories at some point during the season, which is what we want to continue.
“We’ve had periods where we couldn’t get that run, and the teams above us are going to have those spells where they don’t pick up wins. Sometimes it’s easier to be a chasing team than it is to be a team sliding down the table. There will be some shock results between now and the end of the season, as we saw last weekend.”
“All the teams we’ve been playing recently have been in and around the bottom of the league,” he commented. “They’re all desperate to get wins and that doesn’t change, but we’re desperate to get wins for our own reasons.
“We don’t focus too much on the opposition, we’ll pay a lot of respect to them, but we’re mindful of what we can do from inside this building. We need to maintain our good form individually and collectively and continue the momentum.
“The support we had for the home game against Chesterfield, then the away games at Barnet and Yeovil, was absolutely phenomenal. That sort of support keeps the belief in the players. There is a passion from the football department that we want to deliver and be successful for them.”
“Our preparation has included as normal a Friday as was possible,” he told us. “A lot of it has been based on information we give the players, because you do find that some players want to do slightly different things.
“A good example is that Jamie Devitt wants to prepare differently to Clint Hill. Jamie is running around everywhere at the moment and he loves being outside, whereas Clint needs to store his energy.
“That means we get people helping him out onto the training ground and we get people carrying him back in afterwards!”
“In terms of preparation, we’re into a Friday routine and physically and mentally we give the players what they need,” he continued. “That means they always go away in a positive frame of mind as they look forward to the game on the Saturday.
“There will be levels of expectation now so it’s about managing the game and not the occasion. We have 95 minutes to get a result against Grimsby and there will be a lot of factors within it. We all have a part to play in that.
“We need to create an environment where we see success at the end of it. Success at this stage of the season is three points. How we get those points can be different in every game we play.”
“I do think that we’re still due an element of decisions and opportunities going our way,” he insisted. “The demands are there for us to keep this run going but there’s no fear, and that’s the important thing.”
On what we expect from Grimsby, he said: “They’re another team fighting for their lives. They’re also fighting to impress the incoming manager, and you do tend to get an upsurge in performances when a team is in this situation.
“They’re in a position where they probably need three wins and a couple of draws, based on the other teams who are below them, and what results they get.
“The good thing is that there’s a bounce within our group,” he told us. “No matter what happens it’s easier to manage a group and a football club when you’re getting positive results.
“Sometimes you find out more about yourself and your club when things aren’t going your way. It’s a great place to be when you go 22 or 23 games undefeated.
“What we know is that we can’t all be winners every Saturday. However, we’re working hard to make sure we win football matches consistently and that’s why we want people to stick with us if we do lose one or two along the way.
“When you get that unity it helps you to build a successful and sustainable football club.”
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