Head coach Scott Brown sat down with the local media on Thursday afternoon and looked ahead to this weekend’s Sky Bet League One clash against Bolton Wanderers on the road.
The Cods have been in fine form over the last couple of weeks as they’ve managed to pick up seven points from a potential nine, beating both Lancashire rivals Accrington Stanley and Milton Keynes Dons, and picking up another point against Forest Green Rovers in between those two games. Brown and his squad will turn their focus to Bolton away on Saturday.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say in his interview:
On the upcoming clash against Bolton…
“We are going to treat the game at the weekend like any other game, Bolton have a lot to play for as there are three teams going to two positions now in the play-offs. They got a disappointing result against Accy, who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the division so they are extremely hungry and will naturally make every game they’ve got left a tough one for their opposition.
“We’ve got to do the same, we got to make sure that we turn up as we know they are going to come for us as they’ve got a lot to play for and we are in a position that we haven’t got a lot to play for, but it’s the way you want to finish the season. They will be looking to bounce back, but we are in a good place, in a good run of form, and the lads are enjoying playing games right now.
“Big stadium, big pitch, and a fantastic fanbase; it’s about our lads going there, expressing themselves, and playing good football. There’s no pressure on the lads’ shoulders, they’ve just got to show what a top-quality player you are against a top-six side as they stand at the moment.”
On the squad keeping up standards…
“We got to the 50-point mark and everyone thought we were safe, but the lads have been a credit to themselves as they’ve kicked on, worked hard over the last couple of weeks, and have deserved the two wins and the draw against Forest Green, where I thought we played some great stuff as we were calm, composed on the ball, and worked a couple of good chances as well.
“When there’s no pressure on their shoulders, they can go and express themselves a little bit more. We want to try and win as many games as we can and, we know we’ve got a good enough squad, we might need to rotate and change formation which we do now and then, but that allows us to stay nice and fresh.
“We’ll probably mix and match a few of the younger players into the side to give them opportunities as well. Everybody’s shirts are up for grabs, as always, so you need to make sure you work hard in games and in training, and Stevie [McMullan] is a great example of this as he came in at the weekend and won the Man of the Match award on his debut.”