Crawley Town boss Rob Elliot on Bolton, the transfer window and Wrexham injustice

SussexWorld

Crawley Town travel to Bolton on Saturday in League One before a three consecutive homes games. Here Rob Elliot talks about those games, the transfer window, Junior Quitirna's transfer saga and  Bradley Ibrahim

Transcript

00:00Hi Rob, we are a busy couple of weeks coming up for Crawley Town in terms of matches, you

00:05got Bolton on Saturday, how's the squad looking heading into that?

00:08Yeah, good, got a couple of niggles, a couple of illnesses, but other than that no, pretty

00:12good, everyone should be OK for Saturday. We just want to continue where we've left

00:16off in terms of the Mansfield and especially the Wrexham game, I thought it was excellent.

00:21Obviously we know how the game ended and sometimes it doesn't go for you, but I think that shouldn't

00:27take away from what was a fantastic performance and I think we just want to keep on with that

00:32because I think if we keep those levels of performances then we know the points will

00:37come with that. It's really important to me that we don't let those levels drop and going

00:41to Bolton is going to be a tough game anyway because of the size of the club and the players

00:44they've got and obviously the new manager's first game at home is going to be a bit of

00:48an intense atmosphere so we're going to have to manage that, but ultimately it's just about

00:52us and us moving forward with how we want to.

00:55What sort of game are you expecting from Bolton? I suppose it's difficult when they've

00:58got a new manager, but what sort of side are they?

01:02They're a very good side, they've been up and around the top of the league all season,

01:07they've obviously got a very experienced manager, a very good manager who likes to play good

01:11football so I think it'll be a really good footballing game. They've obviously got some

01:14players like Collins, Randall for example, they took from Peterborough who can really

01:17hurt you. So we need to make sure that we're at it both with and without the ball, but

01:23again I think we're getting to the point now where yes, we'll obviously respect every

01:25opponent and we want to make sure that we'll work during the week to nullify what we think

01:30we can, but we've got to really concentrate on what our strengths are and go out and perform

01:35the way we have done, like we did the last two games because they're the levels that

01:38I expect and I think they're the levels we've got to demand from each other because you

01:44get what we should have ultimately picked up a point at least against Wrexham, but that's

01:49where the performances always equal the points in my opinion and the one time it goes against

01:53you is usually a one-off because the performances are there. So that's what we're aiming for

01:58Saturday and then obviously leading us into a busy period.

02:00Going back to the Wrexham game, we all know how it ended. Does an injustice, if you want

02:06to call it that, galvanise the team a bit more and can you use that as motivation to

02:11weld against this kind of attitude?

02:12I think we have to really because it's always tough against Wrexham are the celebrity team

02:19in this league, they have all the money and the power and even just with the two strikers

02:22who played for them and the likes of Fletcher coming on etc, you're up against it anyway

02:26and then a decision like that goes against you. We've obviously had feedback from the

02:29PGOMO, obviously said it should have been a foul, we all knew that anyway. We can't

02:38feel sorry for ourselves, we've got to use that and harness that and the fact that if

02:41we consistently perform the way we did, nine times out of ten you get points, you get wins

02:45and the consistency from it. That's what the key thing is for us, the performance levels

02:55have to be maintained from that big run up until Christmas and then from after Christmas

03:02now we need to keep that level of consistency.

03:05And then on Tuesday you've got Stevenage at home and it's the start of three home games

03:09in a row, two of them being your games in hand. Do you see it as a season-defining week

03:14coming up?

03:15Yes and no. I think the most important thing is that we concentrate in terms of picking

03:21up points. There's no point in putting added pressure on ourselves in terms of winning

03:25the games. We all know the situation we're in, we need to win every game. We want to

03:27beat Bolton, we want to beat Stevenage, we want to beat Wigan, Wickham, whoever it is

03:31that comes. We'll attack every game to win the game and all we can do is prepare for

03:37Saturday, try and win the game, reassess after and then prepare for Tuesday. Yes, every

03:45game is a must-win in my opinion but that should be the case no matter what, whether

03:47you're top of the league, bottom of the league or whatever part of the season you're in.

03:52Hopefully I think now we can really understand that the last few games, the way we played

03:57and the pressure we put on teams and the results we've got, we need to now use that as a catalyst

04:02to have a belief to go on and turn better performances into more points.

04:07Yes, and Monday we saw the transfer window shut. Are you happy with where the squad are

04:11at and is there any position you wish you'd strengthened a bit more in? I suppose you're

04:16always wishing you could strengthen more but are you happy with where the squad's at after

04:20the window shut?

04:21Yes, listen, the lads we've got in have been absolutely brilliant. Obviously Liam was someone

04:24we released on deadline day but I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and that was all

04:30pretty much done. I think it was more a case of his visas and stuff. I think we'd like

04:35to have added a couple more and obviously I put players forward that we would have liked

04:43but obviously it's not as simple as that, especially with where we are in terms of the

04:49finances etc. I'm sure Eben and Preston worked hard to try and get the right bodies in but

04:55the biggest thing for me is that this squad here that we've got has shown that we've got

04:59the quality and we've got enough to go and compete and give ourselves the best opportunity.

05:06Selfishly you always want more and I think that's what any manager would say but we wanted

05:12more to add to this group because we've really come to have a great connection with this

05:16group and we have lost a few players but we've brought in good quality in my opinion and

05:22I think that all we need to do now is concentrate on continuing the performance levels because

05:27the new players have come in and Coxsey obviously starting, Kami coming off the bench, Rory making

05:32his first appearance Saturday. They've added to the squad, added to the culture, added

05:35to the group and we just need to make sure that we concentrate on that and that we galvanise

05:41as much as we can to give ourselves the best opportunity because there's not been much

05:45that... We've let ourselves down a couple of times but overall I think it's been really

05:47positive in terms of most of the performances and whatnot so we need to make sure that we

05:52concentrate on that and continually getting better and pushing the club forward.

05:58And just talking about Armando, obviously there was a sort of transfer saga if you will,

06:01a lot of confusion over that with what was put out there by different people. He's staying

06:06at the club which is obviously great news. How is he doing because it must be, from a

06:10player's point of view, that must have been a very disruptive period for him?

06:13Yeah, obviously, yeah. It was obviously. Junior's flown halfway across the world in the last

06:18week or so but he's dealt with it really well. He's been really mature about the situation.

06:24Obviously it would have been an amazing opportunity for him but for one reason or the other it

06:27hasn't happened and I'm not really clear on the details to be brutally honest. But he's

06:31come in and he's carried on where he left off in terms of being a fantastic human being

06:36and he trained on Tuesday and was a bit leggy for obvious reasons. Now unfortunately the

06:39downside for us is that he hasn't trained for two and a half weeks so we need to build

06:43him up and make sure we don't put him at risk because emotionally, physically, mentally

06:47he's gone through a lot so we need to make sure we protect him, especially with the amount

06:50of games coming up and that's the same as everyone in the squad, by the way, with five

06:53games in 14 days. But having Junior in our squad makes us stronger and that's definitely

07:00the positive. So hopefully today he'll be a bit fresher again and then tomorrow and

07:05then we can look at where he's at fitness-wise for Saturday and obviously Tuesday and going

07:10forward. But yeah, I think the main thing is that Junior's here and he's focused and

07:16he wants to do the best he can and help the team. So I think that's just all credit to

07:22Jun's because he's a fantastic talent, he's a fantastic lad and hopefully we can keep

07:25continuing his development so that he can help us get to where we want to be and these

07:30huge clubs around the world are still looking at him.

07:33And finally, how many times have you watched Brad scull back?

07:36Yeah, no, do you know what? Brad gets a bit of stick from me quite a bit but it comes

07:42from a place of love because when we first come in, he obviously was probably quite frustrated,

07:46wasn't playing loads of games and he's been in and out, he's been consistent and inconsistent

07:50but he's got so much quality, he genuinely has. And sometimes with Brad it's about controlling

07:55emotions so that he can be stable and allow that quality to come through. But Brad's going

07:59to have an incredible career and we're fortunate to get him in here and part of Brad coming

08:07here, his first taste of men's football, his development is on the pitch and off the pitch

08:11but he's a genuine credit. I genuinely love the kids' pieces, I really do. I've got a real

08:14soft spot for him and I think he deserved that goal because his performances have built

08:19up and been really good. What he doesn't do, Brad, is he always trains, he never comes

08:23away from training. He loves his football and I think what you get with a 19, 20-year-old

08:28is just managing emotions, managing focus to point it all in towards the one direction

08:32which will be to a match day and also for his development. So, long term, Brad's going

08:36to have a fantastic career and I really hope that he'll look back at his time at this place

08:41fondly but in the short term, he's going to be a big part of us trying to stay in the

08:47division and helping us improve.

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