Ahead of tomorrow’s crucial clash at home to Enfield Town, Warren Feeney spoke to us about our recent losses, how we’re “honest with ourselves,” and more…
Here’s everything he had to say before our upcoming game:
On Tuesday night’s result:
We were obviously disappointed with Tuesday night’s result. We applied ourselves very well, especially in the second half, but again it came down to fine margins. I won’t blame Brandon Goodship’s penalty for the loss, he’s a great player and these things are part of the game, but now we have to move on.
We’ve got an exciting game tomorrow to look forward to, against Enfield Town.
On our recent run of losses:
It’s important to remember that the last three games have all come against teams in the play-off places and they have all ended with a one-goal deficit, which goes back to the fine margins that I was talking about.
We’re trying, we’re fighting, although we’re not prepared to make excuses – the objective in football is to put the ball in the net. Tomorrow will be a tough game, we respect Enfield, but we just have to worry about ourselves and get those three points.
On not having a “soft underbelly:”
We have to show the right mentality. We have to nullify situations earlier and defend crosses at the right time. Looking at the last two goals scored against us, they came from a ball down the line and a cross to the near-post just after a corner. We can’t have a soft underbelly, we have to defend these chances right to the very end. That’s the most disappointing thing for us, giving goals away at crucial times, and that’s where our mentality needs to change.
On turning things around:
We’re honest with ourselves. We are where we are right now, that’s not good enough, and we’ve got to get out of this situation together. We have been competing, which is brilliant, but we have a job to do. We’ve got to stick together and keep going, and with a couple of fresh faces that will only help us.
It’s important we keep going for the fans, too. It’s been a very tough season for them but they’ve been brilliant since I’ve come in.
On Will Buse:
He’s a good player and a good professional. He loves playing and he takes pride in what he does, which is a testament to him and the goalkeeping coach, Robbie Yates, who stays on top of him.
On how he motivates the players:
Every player responds differently, you need to know when to coddle them and when to let them know, but make no mistake I’m also a big believer in honesty. If a defender isn’t defending right you tell them, and when a striker isn’t holding the ball up you tell them. I’ll never beat around the bush as a manager, and the players know that and accept that.
On managing January’s hectic fixture schedule:
The players just have to make sure they manage their aches and pains, and recover right. The game isn’t like it was 20 years ago, they don’t go out as much, everyone is a bit more professional now!
On tomorrow’s game:
We just have to worry about ourselves and treat it like any other game. We can’t get caught up with emotions. We’re at home and we need to go out there with a smile on our face and put on a great performance.
