Bobby Wilkinson’s Pre-Match Thoughts…
Ahead of our game away to Welling United at the weekend, Sam Watts spoke to Bobby Wilkinson to get his thoughts on the match…
He mentioned Mike Percival and Jamie Leacock’s management of the team in Monday night’s 2-0 win against Gloucester…
“Mike and Jamie took the game for me but I still named the team and still did all the normal preparation, I needed them to go and lead and they did a fantastic job.”
His response to how difficult this away match will be…
“We go to every game to win. It’s going to be very difficult because they are an in-form team, but I look forward to the challenge. The most important thing is that we come out of the weekend knowing that we gave 110% percent and we are still there fighting to stay in the top half of this league at the moment.”
The squad have been hit hard by injuries of late, the manager spoke about how the team are coping…
“We lost our captain on Monday night, Jerome [Okimo]. We have also lost Matt [Lench] for 3-4 months and the same with Freddie [Grant], but also not forgetting Wadah [Ahmidi]. My team is being ripped apart from all these injuries.
“But the boys are still preparing properly and working hard. Glenn Wilson was a rock on Monday at centre half, Simon [Mensah] played very well and Monday’s result was a great achievement considering the circumstances.”
And how this will affect the weekend…
“We are going there as underdogs, this is the biggest game of the season and we haven’t got our captain. We have to give everything we’ve got and we will need the fans too, as having played the virtually the same team for the majority of the season, now we have to change it up. We have to make sure we stay together.
“It’s been one of the toughest months for me but the boys are showing that the harder you hit us, the stronger we will be.”
Bobby praised Fumnaya Shomotun after his loan deal was extended yesterday…
He’s a wonderful lad who has never let me down since he’s been here and [he’s] a wonderful talent, I want to keep helping him. I feel we are getting the best out of him and he’s giving me his all.
And finally how the versatility of his squad is softening the injury blows…
This is what we looked at in the summer. We knew that this [injury] situation was possible and that’s why we have many versatile players. It’s getting us through this sticky period. This hard work is paying off and we are still in the play offs.
