Ahead of tomorrow’s game against Tonbridge Angels, we spoke to manager Bobby Wilkinson, where he gave us his thoughts on last Saturday’s performance at Slough, preparing for tomorrow’s match, and the progress of the club going forward.
Bobby, good to get that point last Saturday. How important is it to come to away grounds like this and not walk away empty handed?
Very very important. It was a brilliant point for us, especially how solid and organised we were. We would’ve loved to have created more chances, but when you’re away from home against a team who haven’t lost for seven games it was quite vital to not lose the game.
Our league form remains decent. Right now the club appears in better shape than this time last year round. How is the mood amongst the club?
We’re in a brilliant place right now. The club is heading in the right direction. The chairman Paul and Simon, the board and the volunteers deserve all the credit for getting the club into a stable position that I know we are in right now. We’re proud of the squad we have built.
On Saturday you spoke about the importance of not conceding, particularly after games like Hampton & Richmond. This appears to be a super positive change. How important is being solid defensively when it comes to finding consistency?
Saturday was an unbelievable sign of what we did, off the ball. I am a manager who wants to make sure we’re hard to beat, because chances and goals will come as you grow as a team.
But the boys deserve the credit. My players are working extremely hard and taking on board all the things we’re trying to do.
The travelling fans gave great support last week. We’re back at home this Saturday. How much of a boost will the Terras support give to the players going into the next game?
The fans are so important to us. They’re the ones that travel. I wish we could’ve entertained them a bit more on Saturday because they’d travelled a long way. But, they’re brilliant fans. They understand what we’re trying to do here. The support has been unbelievable.
We talk about it a lot in the changing room, how important they are to us and how loud they are. We need the extra man this week. This is a good challenge for us at home, but let’s entertain this week and put a good performance on.
Tonbridge will be missing one of their forwards through suspension. We already defended well last weekend, but how much will his absence prove to be a confidence boost for our backline?
We’re focusing mainly on ourselves right now, with playing entertaining football this Saturday. They have one of their forwards out, but they’re a good squad. They should be higher up the table, but they are where they are.
We have also proved more disciplined at the back than Tonbridge (goals conceded) recently. Is this where the game can be won? With our ability to stay compact?
Yes, but anything could happen on the day. You’ve just got to make sure you stay disciplined and focused, and try to win a game of football.
We beat Tonbridge 5-0 last season. Although the squad has changed since, how confident are the team that we can inflict a similar battering next weekend? Is this something the lads have spoken about?
No, we’ve not spoken about it. This isn’t something that interests me. We just study what Tonbridge are like this year. They’ve got a few new players, and we’ve got a new squad. Last year was last year. We’ve worked extremely hard this week, and we just want to put on a good performance for our fans.
Much like Slough, Tonbridge are very close to us in the table. Over the course of the season, are winning these sorts of games just as important as beating the teams at the top of the table?
It doesn’t matter who you play. It’s just about could you win that game. Some you win, lose or draw, but what we want to do is make sure we’re competing every single game.
[Competing] does build confidence. We’re very confident after last week, because we know we can create more chances. We want eight points out of 12, because that’s a hell of a run, and it doesn’t happen very often in this league.
Our form is currently better as of recently. How important is it that we prepare right to make sure they don’t get back to winning ways on Saturday?
If you don’t prepare right and turn up, you get beat in this league.
Are they going to come to us confident? They most probably will, but we’ve just got to make sure we turn up and win a game of football. Four games unbeaten in the league would look brilliant.
Interview by Jack Webb
