Ahead of Saturday’s FA Trophy match at Anstey Nomads, manager Tim Flowers has previewed the fixture, starting with last weekend’s match with Banbury…
It was a fantastic turnout against Banbury, with a very limited number of away supporters. It looked a big crowd, it was a big crowd and I’m really thankful for that. I know the players are as well – they want to play in front of plenty of people, as any footballer does, to showcase their abilities.
But we didn’t do well enough or perform well enough on the day to beat Banbury. We took the lead in what was a scrappy game – we did have a lot of the ball but we did nothing with it really. When I watched the game back, I saw we had a few chances and one or two good balls into the area, but not enough. We didn’t do enough by our high standards. We took the lead, and I’d like to think we could have seen the game out, but we didn’t. We gave away what was a cheap goal, and credit to Banbury – they worked really hard. In the end, a draw is a draw and we’ll move onto Anstey.
Anstey are the only team to beat us in the league this season – and one of two to beat us in any competition. They pressed us that day and we didn’t do enough. We didn’t run enough and we didn’t put enough exertion or effort into our performance – and they were bang up for the game. We took the lead with a shot from distance and after that, I just don’t think we played well. Those sort of performances have been minimal this season – the players have been absolutely fantastic and we’re in a really good position.
We know what we’re up against – I had somebody watching them in the FA Cup against Macclesfield on Tuesday and they could have been well up at half time, no danger. They missed some massive chances and they get onto that position by playing like they did against us really. They’ve got pace, they’ve got energy, they’ve got commitment, they stick it on you, they land on stuff, they’re a threat at set pieces, they’re a big side – and if all that isn’t Step Three football, then I don’t know what it is.
We’ll have to deal with this, and set out what we plan to do. I’ve had a conversation with the lads at training, we’ve reviewed everything and gone through a few things. I’m not expecting them to change the way they play and we have to accept that. We’ve got to make sure we stand up to it and if we don’t, we’ll get beat. If we do, then it’ll be a really good game. Our lads worked well on Thursday and they were in good spirits, nice and sharp, and we’ll crack on with it.
