Before we face Hornchurch tomorrow afternoon, we had a lot to discuss with Mark Molesley, whose main talking points were our young talent, managing tomorrow’s game effectively, and much more…
On last week’s FA-Trophy win:
I’m not surprised by the result. I think it’s been long overdue. Weston-super-Mare are currently the best team in the league, they’re top of the league for a reason, but we certainly never duck from a challenge and we’re in good form ourselves. We always want to meet it head-on, and right now we’re using our suffering from the start of the season to make us stronger. I actually feel that we could have won by more goals; 3-2 was a close win in the end. Now we just have to make sure this isn’t a one-off.
We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but, as I’ve maintained all season, we are on the right lines. Nothing’s changed. We’re now simply starting to see players coming back and others gelling better than before on the pitch.
On seeing us score twice within the opening 15 minutes:
It was great. Scoring those early goals seemed to settle us and we saw some great passages of play. Football is a game based on feeling, and we feel we’ve put in so much work yet been on the receiving end of some tough results that could have easily gone our way. We knew that this type of performance was coming, but sometimes you just need a goal or two to give you a special feeling that can erupt and grow into something infectious.
On our away form:
Honestly, I think it’s down to how the fixtures have worked out. We never look for excuses, but I think energy ultimately plays a key factor.
We’ve ended up being at our freshest on the road. Last weekend saw one of the strongest squads on paper that I’ve been able to name. Plus, looking further back at our draw at home to St Albans City, that came after two away travels within a week.
On experience versus youth:
The way our squad is, we have some really experienced heads amongst young and energetic players. Annoyingly at the start of the season our older lads were out with injuries, but now these key players are back and our youngsters can use the seasoned pros’ knowledge of how my teams play to improve themselves. Everyone is now finally looking great as we near the midst of the season.
On our young talent:
Helping young players reach their potential has always been a passion of mine, and during my first spell here we were very fortunate to see our players go on to have fantastic careers and reach top heights. Hopefully now this club can help provide what is necessary to help our young players reach where they want to be, but at this moment our youngsters need to draw upon all experiences, both positive and negative, and take anything they can to improve themselves, whether that’s advice from an older teammate or learning to manage the rigorous fixture schedule of non-league football.
On the importance of our whole squad:
It’s absolutely huge. For the first time this season we have competition for places, and hopefully it will stay that way. I have every bit of faith in my players and they’ve all played a big part already this season. I have a fantastic squad and I’ve never wavered on that, but how integral they are from now until the end of the season is as up to them as it is to me. They need to keep working hard and showing will to get better, because it’s vital to manage your squad and shuffle the team around if we aim to be competitive.
On our response to Tuesday’s cancellation:
We were gutted that it was called off, because we were really looking forward to it, but the decision was out of our control so we did what we could do. We made sure that we organised training and we worked hard with each other. We also managed to rest a couple of players who picked up knocks last weekend, so hopefully we go into tomorrow better for the rest, and with Jaiden Bartolo coming back from international duty and Jordan Maguire-Drew hopefully being available that’s an extra two players returning after Brandon Goodship and Malachi Linton last week.
On managing tomorrow’s away trip:
We’re looking for the best way to help our players ahead of tomorrow’s game. With things like travel, we want to ensure it happens in the most effective way and guarantee that our team isn’t cooped up on a long coach journey. Any way that we can help the squad we will. Anything to help take the sting out of this busy schedule that will allow us to perform as best we can on the pitch.
On Hornchurch:
They’re a great side and they’re riding on the crest of a wave after getting promoted last year. They have a very experienced manager in Daryl McMahon, who knows non-league football very well, and their team on paper is one of the most experienced in the league. They’re certainly looking up rather than down, and tomorrow will be a huge challenge. We have to make sure we meet every challenge that is thrown at us.
On our FA-Trophy draw to Yeovil Town:
This is what the cup is about. There was certainly a wry smile from me when we got that draw, I know just what it means to the fans, though I will let everyone else get excited whilst I remain a boring manager until that game. We have a lot to do in the meantime. But, when this match comes around we will give it our absolute best shot.
