00:00Scott, thank you for joining us. Building on the positive result against Stockport,
00:04we travelled to Wrexham this weekend. Can I get your thoughts ahead of that game?
00:07Yes, obviously another tough game. We played Stockport last week, which was second in the
00:13division and now we play Wrexham, who are top, so it doesn't get any easier. They're
00:20obviously a good side and they've done unbelievable really throughout the seasons and certainly
00:28with Leighton, they're a really strong side. So we know it's going to be a tough game,
00:31but we're in a good place ourselves we feel. We're playing well, certainly in the last
00:37game and we've got a lot of work into the players this week in terms of how we want
00:42to attack this game. I feel that the training sessions have gone really well, but of course
00:49it's putting it into practice on the Saturday, so I'm hoping that we have that and we have
00:54a real aggression about us, how we play, and I think if we do everything right, we'll be fine.
01:01Yes, as you said after the game, we went toe-to-toe with one of the better sides in the division
01:05and as you've already said, we'll be doing that again this weekend. So there's plenty
01:08of positives to build on from Saturday, isn't there? Again, we face some really tough opposition.
01:12Yes, for sure, and I think the message from me is to build on what we did last week. Again,
01:17we played against a good side and for me we dominated the game and potentially had
01:24more clear-cut chances than probably Stockport did. I think our xG was slightly higher in
01:32the game, so when we dominate the ball and have a higher xG, it's always a positive even.
01:39Though we ended up not getting the result we wanted, obviously the draw is a good draw
01:43against a good side, but this is a different game against a different opposition. They have
01:49a certain way of playing. They don't mind you having the ball, but they find a way of winning
01:56a lot of games. But we've got to make sure that we nullify that and we've got to make sure that
02:01we make their keeper do some work. Yes, football is often about fine margins. Do we read anything
02:06in at all to the fact that they played Tuesday night and we've had a week off? I suppose if
02:09anything, it's given you a chance to watch them more closely than their last game. Yes,
02:13it was Monday night actually. I watched the game, actually enjoyed the game. I thought
02:18two really good sides. Actually, Wrexham set off really well in the game and then Birmingham got
02:24real control of the game later on. But it was a good game, two really good sides. I enjoyed it.
02:30I think I finished watching it around half past 11 at night because I would have been stopping it,
02:35pausing it, taking notes and sending the notes through to my analyst. So yes, it took me a long
02:41time to watch that game, but I actually enjoyed it. It was a good game. Does it make much difference?
02:46No, because it was Monday. No, I think not. I think by the time they get back and recover from
02:53that, their preparation would have been probably very similar to ours. So no, it won't make a
02:57lot of difference, I wouldn't have thought. We saw some very encouraging performances
03:01from some players that started on the bench at the weekend. Is there any chance that we might
03:06see them start? Without giving too much away, will you be looking to freshen things up?
03:10I think there's always a chance when the players come on and do well. I think there's always a
03:14chance that you have to give these players opportunity. So yes, I think there is. I think
03:22there is a chance that we could maybe see a difference, certainly in one position if not two.
03:29Yes, and we've obviously had an extra week. Are we any closer to seeing some of the players
03:33who are sidelined or do you think there's still a few weeks there?
03:35Yes, I think Dion's probably a little way off still. We kind of hope that he's getting
03:41somewhere close and he seems to go backwards a little bit. So we're still a number of days,
03:47if not maybe weeks, away from him being fully fit. Gav Hoularan is getting closer by the day,
03:54trained fully today. Maybe too soon to include him in the squad, we'll have to think about that
04:00over the next 24 hours. But yes, Gav's getting really close now. Apart from that, we're not
04:05far off full compliment. Obviously Rolls is suspended, so he will be missing for the game
04:11as well. But we're not too far away now. From what you've seen from Wrexham
04:17this week and this season, have they changed much from last year?
04:21No, very similar actually. Very similar. They're just good. Listen, they're very powerful.
04:26They have a real know-how how to win games. They're happy for you to have the ball. I think
04:32two games we played them last year we had 68% possession in both games and lost both.
04:38So they're happy for you to have the ball. They block it up quite well. There's times when they
04:44press as well. There's times when they really press hard and fast. They did it Monday night
04:50against Birmingham and I thought the times that they pressed they looked like they could steal.
04:54So we've got to make sure that we're really focused on the way we build our play.
05:01But they block up well as well. But certainly when they get the ball they can really hurt you
05:05really quickly as well. They send the ball forward and they get bodies forward. They like crosses,
05:11put balls in the box and of course they've got at the moment two forwards who are a real handful.
05:16Well actually three forwards who are really handful. One's kind of coming off the bench at
05:20the moment. So we know it's going to be a really tough game but I have confidence in my players.
05:28We've worked really hard this week. We've put a game plan together. If we execute that game plan
05:34almost perfectly then we have a chance to get something from that game.
05:38Do you have to prepare differently for a team that lets you have the ball? I know you like to
05:42have the ball but is it like a slightly different game plan than usual? No we always look at what
05:47the opposition do. We play how we play anyway. The detail we go into is about what they do and how
05:54they do it. We have to work out what's best for us. They're two strong players at the top of the
06:01pitch so we've got to be mindful of that. They do make passes at the back so they do want to try and
06:08they're not direct as people would probably think. They do make passes. They've got some really good
06:13players at the back and they will make passes. You've got George Dobson in the middle of midfield
06:19as a pivot. He'll get on the ball. You've got players like O'Connell who's a middle centre
06:23back who's a really good footballer. So they will make passes. So we've got to make sure that we
06:27a try and stop that but also make sure that we're mindful of their attacking prowess at the top of
06:33the pitch as well and be mindful of that as well. And of course in the middle we have to make sure
06:38that we're doing our job as well. Yeah, when you watched that Birmingham game, Wrexham, obviously
06:42you had Jay Stansfield. I think he cost something like 15 million. Is it another reality check of
06:47what you're competing against this year? Yeah I suppose so. They're two massive clubs aren't they?
06:51I mean you look at Birmingham, they're a championship club and the way they played
06:56there was championship level. They were fantastic in the game and they've got some
07:01really good players and some very, very good players. As have Wrexham
07:07but I feel I've got good players as well. So whoever it is we take on and we're never
07:12going to go anywhere and try and get a draw or pack the bus or what we're like. We'll go
07:18and play our way and try and play our way really well. If we play our way really well no matter who
07:23we play against, they'll fancy us and that's the way we've got to attack all these games.
07:27Yeah, we've seen a couple of players go out on loan this week, Anthony and Jasper. How important
07:32is that for the player and for the club and how do you monitor their progress at those clubs?
07:36Yeah, really good question. Both of them have done fantastically well in training and throughout
07:41pre-season. I think they're both really good lads and they've worked extremely hard.
07:47If anyone was to come and watch Jasper in training, he's unbelievable. You literally
07:51cannot score against him. He's so good in the goal. He needs to go out and play so it's
07:57important for him, for his development. It's the same with Anthony. He's come in, he's done really,
08:02really well but we feel to develop him further he needs to go and play football. Is his football
08:08going to be limited with the first team? Possibly. So we have to be fair to manage
08:15him properly in terms of his development and I think that he will be better for that.
08:20How do we manage that? Well, we watch his clips back, we'll sit down with him,
08:26we'll make sure that he comes in, both of them come in training with us still. Maidstone are
08:32kind of like a hybrid training schedule so that means that we can still see Anthony coming in
08:38and being with us and being around us. We still keep his gym programme going and of course we
08:44want to look at the analysts looking at clips and see if we can get his games back where we can sit
08:49down and go through his clips with him and talk about how we see his performance. Of course it's
08:54always different when you go to another club because they play different and I know Anthony
08:59played as a double pivot which he's not played that for us which is good for his learning as
09:03well but obviously they play probably a lot different from what we do but it's good for
09:08his development. Excellent and we've seen Mike Williamson leave MK Dunst for Carvile today.
09:13Your name is straight there at the top of the betting odds. I know you can't control that
09:17but I just wondered what your thoughts on that are and it's a good job for someone isn't it MK Dunst?
09:21My thoughts are that my full focus is here you know whilst you're getting linked to
09:30jobs I think that proves that you're doing something right so it's kind of always a
09:36positive in many ways but my full focus is here until I'm told otherwise but yeah I agree I think
09:42it is a really good job for somebody but yeah listen until I'm told otherwise my focus is on
09:48this this football club. Thanks Scott.
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