Robins Boss John Ward Previews Tomorrow

Last updated : 23 February 2007 By Thetashkentterror
John Ward
One-time United managerial target John Ward, who was speaking to Cheltenham Town's official website, talked about the game against Carlisle at Whaddon Road tomorrow. Ward chatting about the good run of form his side has put together lately :


"Our performance at Carlisle earlier in the season was pretty abysmal and I was responsible for that as much as anyone else because we had the wrong starting line-up even though, admittedly, we were very under strength. We are in much better form now, we are at home where we have become tough to beat and I fully expect a more difficult game for Carlisle United this time around.

"We didn't play particularly well against Bournemouth last Saturday but still won. On Tuesday we played very well at Tranmere and only drew. As I keep saying, football is not logical in that sense. We all want to play well but we need to win and keep this good run going. If we can play well it will give us a better chance of doing that. I really want the team to push on from Tuesday because that was a very good performance. Recent results have been very good but other people have kept with us and we now have to put another good run together. We can't just sit back and look at what we've done.

"We played with one up front on Tuesday and it worked very well. Kay (Kayode Odejayi) in particular produced an excellent performance. The risk I run with playing that formation at home is that if we don't win the game people will be critical and say we should have been more adventurous. We did it at Bristol City and went back to two strikers at home against Swansea and that was pretty effective. I just have to consider whether to stick with what we did on Tuesday or whether to change it again because at home we need to be positive.

"The nice thing for me is that I've got quite a number of players to choose from. I have to say that the selection of players on Tuesday was no reflection of the performances against Bournemouth. We've had some good results in the last couple of weeks and all with different teams so I will look at the Carlisle game as a separate thing on Saturday and see what we need to do.

"My players are very accepting of the situation. They don't like it when they are not playing but they are respectful of what we do. I've looked at bringing in another midfield player on loan but recent matches have proved that we have managed very well without one. The money is still available to bring in a player if we need to, though.

"Carlisle are a good passing team and they are a different side to the one we played earlier in the season. If we don't play well they will be able to exploit things in our play so it's important that we stay on the front foot and stay positive. We know that Carlisle are looking to get into the play-offs in the same way that Bristol City and Swansea City were. So we are looking to give another top team a tough game.

"We need to be positive and aggressive and we will cause Carlisle problems. I am very pleased with what we have done in the last eight or nine games, but other clubs have stayed with us. We need another run now and that's a major challenge for us. We are looking ahead and there are still teams we can catch."


In team news for the Robins midfielder David Bird returned to training this week after suffering from a calf injury and will be available for selection tomorrow. Definitely sidelined though will be long-term absentees Michael Wylde (ankle ligaments), Mickey Bell (achilles), Jamie Victory (calf), Scott Brown (broken leg) and Ashley Vincent (cruciate knee ligament).


The referee for tomorrow's match is Keith Hill from Royston in Hertfordshire, and he will be assisted down the lines by Simon Barrow from Tamworth in Staffordshire and Eric Mackrell from Petersfield in Hampshire. Meanwhile the fourth official will be Andrew Sainsbury from Devizes in Wiltshire.