John Ward Reacts To A 2-0 Defeat

Last updated : 04 September 2006 By Thetashkentterror
John Ward
One-time United managerial target John Ward, who was speaking to Cheltenham Town's official website, talked about the 2-0 defeat for the Robins at Brunton Park this afternoon. Ward mentioning that his side hadn't been able to stop Carlisle playing the ball about and so get hold of possession themselves :


"I'm disappointed. The best team won, Carlisle passed the ball better than us, they showed more purpose and thoroughly deserved their win. We didn't get close to them enough to prevent their passing game, which was something we needed to do. We needed to get hold of the ball and give them some problems but certainly in the first half we were lacklustre and probably needed a bit more determination and belief. I wasn't really sure whether my team really believed they could get on their game today and do something about this match.

"We had to change it at half-time and whilst it didn't bring the desired effect, at least we had more of the ball and with a little more conviction in the last 30 to 35 yards we just might have done something. That was the whole afternoon summed up. We might have done something but we didn't threaten enough and it was a bit hopeful from us unfortunately. Having said that, I thought Carlisle played very well and I was very impressed with them.

"Brian Wilson was ill last week with a virus but we hoped he would be well enough to join up with the squad yesterday. He wasn't well enough so we decided we could not put him on the coach with the other players. Hopefully he will be recovered for next week.

"We will have a couple of players back in training next week but I'm not sure if they will be fit enough for first team football straight away. This group of players will have a reprieve, although hopefully we will have McCann and Wilson back. It will be a second chance for some of the players because they didn't take this one today well enough.

"The only positive I can take is that we only conceded two goals. My goalkeeper was excellent and pulled off a couple of great saves. We also gave some real experience to young players but I would struggle to find too many more positives."