Crawley Town defender Toby Mullarkey returns to side after six-week lay-off

SussexWorld

Toby Mullarkey returned to Crawley Town's starting line-up after six-week lay-off with a back injury. His side drew 1-1 with Reading. Here is his reaction to the performance and describes what it has been like to be off for six weeks.

Transcript

00:00It's a point in the right direction here at the Brougham for Stirling as we draw with

00:05Reading. Can I get your overall thoughts on the game first?

00:07Yeah, it was a tough game. I think games like this at this stage of the season are always

00:13going to be tricky, but I think we've got to try and take the emotion out of games and

00:17play it just as if it's any other league game, which is obviously difficult because we all

00:20know the position that we're in. But from experience of being in these sort of positions

00:24before, the big thing is to try and, like I say, take the emotion out of it and just

00:28play the way that we know that we can, which I think we did in Spurs. Obviously, the goal

00:32was disappointing. Other than that, they didn't really have many chances compared to what

00:35I thought we did, especially in the first half. So, obviously, we take the points. It's

00:40frustrating not to get three, but like I said, it could be a valuable point come the end

00:43of the season.

00:44Yeah, I suppose you've been watching from the sidelines recently, but you just said

00:47to Rob, a lot of the frustrations in recent weeks have been that we've struggled to get

00:52a foothold in the game and really sort of create anything. Today, the frustration is

00:56we had a foothold in the game, but we were just unable to get the ball over the line

00:59until the 90th minute because it looked like we controlled a lot of the play out there.

01:02Yeah, it was sort of two teams, similar style of play, really. So, we knew that before the

01:08game. We had to try and restrict them, which I think that we did, bar maybe a couple of

01:12chances. But I think if you look back on the game, obviously in the first half, there was

01:15a few where we've entered the box in the final third and obviously they've got a couple of

01:18vital blocks. And then I think we were the team, especially the last 20 minutes, which

01:23were in the ascendancy, looked like we were going to go on and take it. But like I said,

01:26we can't be disappointed with a point, although we want to take three. Essentially, it's a

01:31point on the board, which is a big thing.

01:33Yeah, obviously a great positive for you to come back into the side. We just talked a

01:37little bit there off camera, you've only trained sort of once properly before being thrown

01:41back in, but you didn't really look out of place. And as you said a little bit before,

01:44do you think that almost helped the fact that you were so sort of last minute with Dion's

01:47injury, meaning you had to come in?

01:49Yeah, I think so. Like I said, if you think too much about it, it can go the other way.

01:52So I think the fact that I was essentially thrown in, I've trained once after being out

01:56for six weeks and then obviously playing today, I think, like I said, it's actually helped

02:00the fact that I've not had too much time to think about it. I've just gone straight back

02:03in. Obviously, my legs were going a bit towards the back end of it. But I think, you know,

02:06for the first game back, I've sort of just built my way in. I think I didn't want to

02:11try too much, but I felt like it was normal to be out there again and found my feet quite nicely.

02:14Yeah, you did look like you found your feet quite nicely. It must have been a tough mental

02:18challenge because if we throw it back, you know, before you were out of injury, you played

02:22effectively every single game for us. You were certainly towards the Christmas period,

02:26you were the only one who played pretty much every single minute of league football. So to

02:30go from playing that amount in League One at your new club to then having six weeks on the

02:33start line, it must have been tough.

02:35Yeah, it was. I think the injury, probably there's only those closest to me that know

02:40how much it's been affecting me. So I think the breathing, you know, I played pretty much

02:45until I could and then it was just a case of I had to tap out and do what I needed to do.

02:49So to get back out there again was really nice. Obviously not being able to play is

02:53mentally quite tough, but you know, I'm lucky and fortunate that I've never had

02:57too many injuries to deal with in touch wood. It doesn't happen again. But like I said,

03:00just delighted to be back out there and I think we've got 11 games to play now,

03:03so we'll treat them all as cup finals and see where we end up.

03:06Yeah, you've obviously seen your fair share in recent weeks of the injury,

03:09sort of room at the club. It seems to just sort of be growing, you know, bigger and bigger by the

03:14day, but slowly I think we are getting back, obviously with the likes of you coming back

03:17and we should have the likes of Jeremy coming back in the next couple of weeks. So with,

03:21you know, a positive spin on a performance like that, you know, there's still a lot that

03:24we can achieve this season, isn't there? Definitely, yeah. There's obviously big

03:27players to come back on, you know, touching it there. Jeremy, Josh Flynn, who was massive for

03:31us before he got injured and we're going to need everyone going into the final stretch of the

03:35season. Like I said, there's still plenty of games to play for 33 points up for grabs,

03:39which I know sounds like a bit of a cliche, but all it takes is one win and then we can

03:43spiral. We've seen it with Cambridge, obviously they got two straight at the table. We need to

03:47do the same. We've got some massive games coming up with people that we can hopefully drag into

03:50it with the likes of Exeter and Peterborough. So we need to make the home a fortress. Like I said,

03:55it's a cliche, but we need the fans with us to make it compact here and horrible for teams to

03:59come here because it's going to take all of us to get over the line. Brilliant. Yeah, thanks.

04:04Just obviously when Flinty got injured and now yourself and Dion being injured, Charlie Barker

04:10has sort of come to the fore and he was captain today. Can you just say what you all thought and

04:14how impressed have you been with the way he's become one of the first teams to be injured?

04:18Yeah, he's a massive sort of testament to anyone that finds himself out of the team that can get

04:23into it. Because I think initially he sort of bided his time and he's not necessarily the leader

04:28that you'd expect in terms of he's a shower and a screamer. But I think the way he handles himself

04:32around the pitch, he lets his football do the talking. He leads by example. I think for a 21

04:37year old, he's got a very bright future and I'm very close to him off the pitch. So for me to see

04:42how well he's done in recent weeks and across the whole season, to be fair to me, he's been very,

04:46very good. I think he's got a bright future ahead of him. Yeah. And I come down to the training

04:50ground sometimes to do the press conferences and I see the spirit that there is in the squad.

04:54How important is that when someone like yourself, when you have six weeks off?

04:57Yeah, it's massive. I've had, like I said, I've had experiences like this before where

05:01dressing rooms haven't been quite like they are here. And I think people are always wanting to

05:05know what the vibe of the changing room is like, but obviously you've said it yourself,

05:08the camaraderie is there and the team spirit is there being in changing rooms where it's not.

05:12So it needs to be kept at that level. Like I said, we've all got to be in it together,

05:15which we are, and take each game as it comes. Like I said, people will be frustrated that we've

05:19not picked up three points. I know from a fan's point of view, they'll be annoyed and agitated,

05:23but it's a tough league. Like I said, a point today is a valuable point. Although we won three,

05:28we've just got to take each game as we come and see where we end up.

05:31And Charlton on Tuesday night, obviously a very tough game. They've had a great run

05:35since Crawley beat them back at the Valley. How much of that positivity from that night

05:39have you got to take into this and use it as motivation?

05:41The exact same again. I think the fans that night, again in particular, it was probably

05:45one of the best away trips that they've had. They're going to want to come here and take

05:49three points. We want to go in and win three points as well. So it'll be a tough game.

05:53Probably a lot different to today. Probably a lot less football being played with our

05:57Charlton Let's Play. They're very direct and physical, but we've got to match that and let

06:00our football come out on top. And like I said, we know on any given day if we take

06:04our chances and stand up to the task, then we can get the job done.

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