Assistant manager Danny Webb sat down with 1866+ to preview the fixture against Oldham Athletic at the SMH Group Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Starting with the mood in the squad following Saturday’s win at Notts County, Webb said: “Very good, especially when you compare it to the feeling this time last week, which understandably was very flat.
“Even if the result hadn’t gone our way at Notts County, you have to sort of put a poker face on and try and get everyone going again when you’ve got a game straight away on the Tuesday. Fortunately for us, we’ve had a great win, which obviously helps lift the spirits naturally.
“It’s always a cracking fixture for both sets of fans, always a good crowd, loads of noise obviously, Notts’ and ours with big stadiums, lovely pitches. The boys are in good form, a few tired legs obviously from a tough game at Notts County, albeit they had 10 men for large periods.”
Looking ahead to Oldham, hoping to build momentum from Saturday’s win, Webb said: “We’ve all said a number of times how it’s important that you take a step forward and don’t take a couple back, and we’ve done that. Sadly, we’ve done it too many times.
“We don’t want it to be a season of ‘what if?’. We can look back over recent months and the whole season go, what if we’d not conceded that goal or if we’d scored that chance or scored that penalty? You can’t look back; you’ve got to look forward.
“Let’s back it up and let’s kick on now. Sooner or later, we’ve got to do it. You’ve got to win a couple on the trot, especially if we’ve got aspirations of getting out of this league, and Notts County away was a massive step in the right direction.”
Reflecting on previous fixtures against Oldham, Webb added: “We have a couple of real humdingers against them in the National League, real proper games.”
“They’re on a hell of a run, real hell of a run. They’ve conceded the second least amount of goals in the league, which is a credit to Micky Mellon and his players and staff. But the league position doesn’t lie, we’ll be going into the game as favourites.”
Finally, commenting on how much support from fans means to the players and staff, Webb explained: “You see the genuine joy on people’s faces after any win. But we all noticed it, players as well.
“When you look up and give them a clap after the game at Notts, there’s genuine joy on people’s faces. Young and old, boys and girls, it’s great to see. Because it makes their weekend, it makes their week.”
Both match and hospitality tickets remain available, with St. Patricks Day themed events and offerings surrounding the fixture.
