After a 2-2 draw in todays Boxing day clash against Ramsbottom United Dave McNabb spoke to the club to give us his thoughts on the game
Dave McNabb: “A bit disappointed, to be honest. In the first half, I thought we edged the first half, but it was quite a close game. I think fair play to Rammy, I think we’ve capitalised on two individual errors for the goals. Other than that, I don’t think we deserved to go in behind. And then, second half’s just one-way traffic, second half’s just a complete sort of… I think they’ve had one shot second half, that was from inside their own half, and it went out for a throw-in. We’ve had 24 shots in the game, 67 per cent possession, so it just felt like it wasn’t going to go for us. And then, to be fair, the lads haven’t given up, they haven’t stopped, we’ve got the equaliser on the penalty, and it was just about seeing whether we could get that winner. But it wasn’t to be, so we take the points, and we go again.”
Dave then spoke to us through todays change to the starting 11 from the Chadderton clash with Bobby Carroll not featuring in the squad and Sam Coughlan replacing him, he said: “So, Bobby [Carroll] came to training the other day, wasn’t well, had to send him home, and he’s still not well today, so there was some kind of virus. I think a few lads have to be fair, but Bobby was just a little bit too ill.”
He then added onto this point by telling us why it’s important to have a big squad due to the consistent injuries with him saying “Exactly, that’s why it is a squad game, and when you look at the depth that we’ve got across pretty much every position, we’ve played Cam Fogarty and Nicky Adams as head of the midfield today. So, with someone like Bobby, it’s obviously a huge miss. He did take to the game core today, which is a massive part of what we try and do. That’s why we’ve got a squad, like you said. So, it’s a disappointment he wasn’t here today, such a big game but, again, it’s about the players who are available and the players who play.”
He then gave us his thoughts on whether todays game went to plan in his opinion, with him saying “Yes, I think so, I think Ramsbottom are a very good side. They are in the league where they are because of that. They’re very experienced. They play in a certain way that suits the profile of players they’ve got. Very direct, can appeal to a lot of second balls, and they played exactly how we thought they would go into today. And, again, just a bit disappointed we didn’t get more from the game following the second-half performance, particularly.”
Dave than told us about how important it is the players are ready and rested due to the quick turnaround ahead of Saturday’s clash with Prestwich.
Dave McNabb: “It’s massive. Obviously, we’re trying to make sure that the players have got everything they can in terms of that recovery. They’ve got all the stats. They’ve got the stats from today’s game. They’ll be on board with the team and whatever else. It’s about making sure they’re as fit as they can be for Saturday. We’ll probably have to bring a few changes, and that’s, again, why we’ve got a squad that we’ve got. Saturday is now a massive, massive game because for as much as we did in the final third today, we did get a point. We sort of thought about it after the game against Chadderton, whether it would end up being a draw or this one. So, I think we’ve got to follow up now with three points on Saturday.”
Dave then told us about Morgan Homson-Smith home debut with him saying, “Absolutely. Morgan playing three or four different positions, and what he brings in terms of technical ability is massive. Again, he’s probably one who’s been a little bit lucky today. He’s gone into the squad because Bobby wasn’t here, after last Friday’s performances. But, again, he’s still got his chance. He could have made a pitch, which he did OK with, but it was a little bit rusty. But, again, that will come with the sharpness. So, yeah, I think Morgan’s in. He’s fantastic at football. I think he can make a massive difference between now and the end of the season.
Dave then finished the interview by giving special message to the fans after a staggering 5,834 shakers attended todays match.
Dave McNabb: “Honestly, it’s remarkable. I think the sheer numbers and that people come to the game and how much it means to every single one of them and the noise that they make, the way they drive the team on, the lads on. It’s just a special, special football club. The reason why it’s so special is because of the fans and because of the people who are involved behind the scenes. It’s quite hard to put into words how much of a privilege it is to be part of something that’s got so many people that love it and so many people that think it matters to them, and being part of that community is a massive, massive thing. Obviously, we have to try and repay the fans and make sure that we achieve our goals this season. We’re still very much on track for that. I think we’d like to, and we probably should have been a little bit better off points-wise with the games. We had a rough patch, and I think you’ll always get them at this level of football, but the key now is that we come together. We’ve got two contacts a week now, two training sessions a week after Saturday, and I think this group will flourish with that additional training time.”
