Head coach Scott Brown spoke to the press on Thursday afternoon and previewed his side’s trip to face Sheffield Wednesday in their upcoming League One clash on Saturday.
The group will be looking to bounce back from their devastating loss against Oxford United last time out where they took the lead through a Brendan Wiredu strike, but two second half goals from the opposition – with one of them coming right at the end of the game in a controversial fashion – meant Town would come away from the game, unfortunately, empty-handed.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say in his interview:
On Saturday’s opposition…
“This will be a test of character for the lads; it’s us going away to a club with great history, fantastic support, and a great manager in Darren as well. We have to go there and enjoy it, work on what we’ve been doing, be structurally sound behind the ball, and not get done by the crowd early on – we know we can go away from home and cause an upset – we’ve done it in the past.
“We’ve been excellent away from home which has been great for the travelling supporters because they travel a long-long way to get behind us and for us to get crucial points on those trips has been brilliant for them. Now, it’s time to start improving at home, like the young ones did the other day, I thought we played the best we’ve done this season against Oxford last time out.
“I spoke to Karl [Robinson] after the last game and he thought we played great, but that’s been the story too many times this season, we’ve lost five games from winning positions which isn’t something I want to be doing consistently so we need to make sure we re more secure at the back once we manage to gain leads in games."
On the midweek Youth Cup victory…
“I thought the lads were fantastic, their determination, willingness to get on the ball and desire to score goals was exceptional. They’ve got some flair players as well which is great to see coming through the Academy as well, so for us, it’s fantastic to see.
“They managed to keep the clean sheet all the way through so fair play to the young ones and I’m sure they are looking forward to playing Manchester City in the next round. It will be a huge game for them, but they will be able to go there with the experience of beating a top side Middlesbrough the other night and will know they can beat teams in the leagues above.
“It’s huge getting to the fifth round, and for the first team making it to the fourth round as well. We are sitting in a good place at this moment in time, we still want to be higher up the league and want to be bringing more youngsters through, but the good thing is they will know that the opportunity to come and train with the first team is always there which will be a huge step up.”
On the transfer market this month…
“We’re trying to speak to a few people, fill a few positions as we’d love to bring a striker and a midfielder in and a defender as well, but you know what it’s like at this time, everyone is fighting for a striker that can score 20 goals a season, and both a midfielder and a defender that can help keep clean sheets.
“We’re fighting with everyone else in the league for similar players, but we can still show what we’ve got here and what we’ve got to offer those players. There are fantastic facilities, a great bunch of lads, and a chairman that’s got a dream of pushing forwards, so we know we’re in a good position at this moment in time, we just need to tell the players we want to bring in.”
Watch the full pre-match interview live on our official iFollow page!