Ahead of tomorrow’s away Emirates FA Cup match at Bury, manager Tim Flowers has spoken about the task at hand and our opponents. He starts with reflections on Tuesday night’s draw…
I thought it was a really good performance against Leamington. If I’d gone to watch as a Sporting fan, I’d have come away thinking that my team played really well, created quite a lot of chances but didn’t convert them – that is what it is, things like that happen in football at times.
I don’t think there’s a single game that we haven’t scored in this season yet, so we do create, but at times we could be more prolific – there’s no doubt about that.
We won at Warwick days before and we didn’t play anywhere near as well as that and, to be fair, my angle on the match hasn’t changed – I thought Leamington worked hard for their point and they hung on at times – under no circumstances were they in control of that football match at any time.
As I said afterwards, never disrespect a point. We move onto 22 points and we also moved onto the FA Cup. Thus far, we’ve had to battle with two games at home, and now we move into a different task, in terms of what we’re up against. If you haven’t studied or looked at Bury, then you wouldn’t understand what they bring to the table.
They’re a really good team and on the up, obviously being a former EFL team – and it’s brilliant to see them going up the divisions in great fashion, in front of such big crowds at their old ground. It’s fantastic to see as a football person – I’m so pleased for them.
Having said that, we’ve won eight and drawn one of our last nine games. With all due respect to my players, my staff and everybody at the football club, it’s a fantastic effort. We have to kick on now – we run into a month with Real Bedford, who are unbeaten in the league, Alvechurch, who have spent big and brought in some big players, Kettering, who have had a great run after losing their manager, Banbury, with no cup commitments, Anstey Nomads in the Trophy, who are the only team to beat us in the league this season.
This month is huge and it will really show us where we are – remember, the big boys come out to play when the clocks go back, when the weather gets windier and wetter – so we’ll see. What I do know is I have a bunch of lads who are an absolute pleasure to work with – they find a way in the dressing room to raise their game and they’re going to have to raise it to their highest possible levels to get through this cup tie.
We’re going up there to try and give a real good account of ourselves. For me and my dressing room, it’s about what we do – win, lose or draw, we’ll take something out of it and crack on. Clearly, we’re setting out to win the game and I understand how excellent they are on their own patch. But afterwards, we’ll shake hands, have a beer, and move on.
Hopefully our fan base are enjoying what they’re seeing at the moment and, if you’re not, you’re probably not watching the same games as me!
