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GA
We are hopeful that tomorrow is going to be better than today, and then we get a good day at it. Because, it does need to thaw, it is firm, it does need to thaw, and then Saturday morning it has got that as well. So, there is a big hope that we can get the game on, we are desperate to play the game because we don't want to get a backlog and we think we are in the right frame of mind to play another game.
You don't lose any fitness over a week or two weeks, if it is a month of no games and no training then you are going to have a bit of a problem. But, I shouldn't think that the amount of time we are likely to be out will cause us any problem whatsoever. We are only making excuses for players if you do that, so let's keep them out of their heads and starve them of that ready made excuse for why we don't perform in the next game.
JP
Well, let's make some excuses for Dagenham then, they must be really struggling for confidence the way they have been playing? It is going to be a tough one for them to come all the way up here and try to get something from Carlisle United?
GA
Yeah, but I think it will be tough for us as well, I don't advocate to this it is only Dagenham sort of theory. I know John Still and I know Wayne Burnett and I know the staff there every, very well. I know what type of club they are and they will be coming up here having a right good go at us and working their socks off.
In the past it is the type of game that has caused us headaches at times, we need to make sure we don't suffer this headache and we get through the game, we win the game and we move on to the next one. But, we will have to be at our best, you can rest assured on that one.
JP
In terms of their form going into it, three defeats on the trot, one win in ten, three wins all season, they are a team who people will expect you to beat. How do you go about a game like that when there is that bit of added pressure on you?
GA
Erm, you are probably a bit more fierce in your week's preparation. I have been fierce today, I have been probably Mr Angry today in terms of making sure we don't slip up against teams that we should be seen to be doing quite well against. So, there won't be any complacency as far as I am concerned, the players need to know it is a winnable game but it is only winnable if the application and the attitude is spot on.
That is the message through the team today, and we have had a couple of nice little fall-outs today on the training ground, I wouldn't say fall-outs but I have got a little bit louder than normal because I don't want us to slip into complacency mode. I want us to come out firing on all cylinders and make sure that we progress in these types of games.
JP
What sort of approach do you expect from them? I know that you won't want to give too much away but you will have done your research, what sort of game can the fans expect here on Saturday?
GA
Erm, if we don't get an early goal maybe one where we need to be patient, one where we know that they will work hard, we know that they will get men behind the ball, we know they will defend for their lives. So, we have to be ready for that and we have to be prepared to break them down and be patient when we have our work.
But, I am sure we will get plenty of the ball, and I am sure we will see plenty of men behind it from their point of view, and then we will have to work and scrap for everything. Then get that bit of magic from one of our quality players, our door opening players if you like to make sure that we get a goal, and if we get an early goal then it will give us a lot of encouragement. But, we certainly don't need to be giving anything away.
JP
A couple of weekend games now before you go into the busy Christmas period, do you look at these sorts of games, this one at home, then a long trip away and think it is really important for us to get something there ahead of a period where almost anything can happen?
GA
I look at every game thinking I have got to get three points. We only get three points for this just the same as we would in any other game. These are real games that trip up your season and halt your momentum. So, it is a game that we need to, it is our next game and it is one that I am desperate to win, I would be no more desperate though than I would be to beat Southampton or Sheffield Wednesday or anything like that.
JP
I will ask that a bit better, it was a rubbish question in truth. With the games coming thick and fast after that though is it important though that you have got this much preparation time to make sure you get these ones right?
GA
Again, the answer is that I would like to get my preparation right for every game. We don't make this any different, we don't build it up or dress it down any more. All we probably do with this game is we are guarded probably more against complacency than anything, that we are right, that the players minds are right.
Because, my mind will be right but sometimes players look upon this because they get dragged into even what you are saying that we are expected to win, they are expected to turn up and just go out there. It doesn't happen like that, you know that because you have seen the season unfold already. But, the games that in the past have caused us headaches, on Saturday we just don't want that situation to happen.
We want to make sure we are out of the blocks properly, we do what we have done against the lesser teams this season in terms of the likes of the Tiptons and the Tamworths and Crewe and people like that. But, we give Dagenham the respect that they deserve that they have come out here fighting, and we need to be on top of our game and our preparation needs to be just right to win it.
JP
I know it is a bit of a moot point, but Richard Offiong at the moment, I saw him just leaving the ground as I was going past a little bit earlier, is he getting any closer to being back available for you?
GA
Well he has trained, for the first time this season he has trained for two days on the trot, so that is a massive encouragement and it is great to see him on the training ground. So, as and when he has done a bit more work and he has done a bit of catch up, he is certainly not ready for first-team selection at the minute with what he has done.
But, we have had him for two days and fingers crossed he doesn't have any more problems with his hips and groins that he has had which kept him out for most of the season. So, he is training but at the minute he is a little bit from selection.
JP
What sort of period of consistent training would you need for him maybe to knocking back on the door if you like?
GA
Erm, I would like to see him in a period where he proves he is better than what I have got and what is available, and when that situation comes then he will be considered.
JP
I bumped into Sean McDaid today, how is he getting along? Has he had any more news? He seemed to be doing a bit of work, actual training, what is his situation at the moment?
GA
No, it is a long-term one and certainly something I am not going to give a date to that one. Sean is working with Dolly (Neil Dalton) and they are working closely together. He is obviously not in any sort of contention for the forseeable future, so we are letting Sean and Dolly deal with that and get on with their work. Then as soon as Sean is ready to step back into to the training then I will be told by Dolly. But, he is certainly one that we are not putting any pressure on him and we are not certainly giving him any time zones.
JP
Aside from football, how are you spending Christmas?
GA
Christmas? Football. I am not a big fan of Christmas in terms of I think it is a working period for us and everybody messes about with cakes and apple pies and stuff like that and presents. Maybe I am Mr Grumpy, I don't know, but we are working aren't we on the 26th (of December), so on Christmas Day your mind is focused on Boxing Day.
Then, we have got a game on the 28th, we have got a game on the 1st (of January) I think and a game on the 3rd. So, I will be probably walking around the streets like a lunatic singing Happy Christmas on the 4th and Auld Lang Syne on the 5th. So, if you can just understand that that is the way I will spend my Christmas then that is where I go with it to be honest.
JP
I was talking to a former Carlisle player in Darren Edmondson in the week and he was saying that he actually, I forget which year he is into now, but he said he has not had a Christmas, a proper stay at home with the family for a few days Christmas, since before he was a professional footballer, and it gets away from you how quickly that happens, even longer for you?
GA
Yeah, I mean honestly, it is really just a period where we focus on work. I am focused, I tell you what Happy Christmas will be for me is if we get twelve points over the four games, that will be Happy Christmas. You can forget about Santa and his silly hat, that will be Happy Christmas all day long for me, and the players as well. Then they can sing Happy Christmas around the streets of Carlisle, about the 14th or 15th of January and I will be OK with that.