Post by Dale on Dec 31, 2004 16:24:02 GMT 1
Ian Atkins says his side will not be playing "pretty tippy-tappy football" when they travel to Shrewsbury Town tomorrow afternoon.
The Rovers manager believes the Gay Meadow outfit made easy pickings of Darlington during the week because of the way the north east club approached the fixture.
And Ian says his players won't be making the same mistake, on a pitch that he describes as "a disgrace" and "not a proper football pitch".
"The pitch there is very heavy, it's not a proper football pitch really," Ian told bristolrovers.co.uk, " darlington went there on Tuesday and tried to play pretty tippy-tappy football, and they got stung and beaten 4-0. We won't be doing that, and we won't be making their mistakes."
Despite having drawn their last four League Two matches in succession, the gap between Rovers in 14th place and the play-off pack remains at just three points, a gap that could be closed to nothing with a victory this weekend.
"We're due an away win," he said, "We've played exceptionally well in recent weeks, we just haven't got the results we've deserved. We need to go out tomorrow and put the opposition under more pressure, because being unbeaten in six is good, but it could easily have been six wins on the trot.
"It's a game I'm looking forward to, and one I'm confident we can get a positive result from. And I'm looking forward to seeing us get ourselves into a two-goal lead because when we do that the belief and confidence that you seen in this team and the players is tremendous.
"We're more than halfway through the season now, and we haven't been outdone by anyone, we've only been outdone by ourselves. I'm expecting that to change significantly, and I think in the second half of the season we'll kick on massively."
Rovers are expecting to welcome Lee Thorpe and Craig Disley back into the fold tomorrow, with the striker's return in particular a massive boost for the manager.
"When we have Lee in the team it gives us a target man to aim for," said Ian, "We need to get more balls into the box, and having someone like Lee in there gives the players more confidence to get crosses in there. Instead of playing it around with a pass too many, we can get the ball in there and look for Lee to win it for us."
There's not such good news for Aaron Lescott however, who only stands an outside chance of making it for Monday's home game against Northampton Town.
"Aaron is not fit for tomorrow, although he stands an outside chance of being ok for Monday," confirmed Ian, "Steve Elliott looks to be ok after we thought initially we could be looking at him being out for two or three weeks, and John Anderson has been outstanding. So the injury news is definitely looking a bit rosier for us."
Kevin Miller however has been completely ruled out, and will spend his New Year's weekend nursing his injured ankle.
"Kevin is out, but we've got Ryan Clarke who we rate very highly," said Ian, "He's come back from having played seven league games in a row for Kidderminster, so it won't be like throwing him in at the deep end. This is a big opportunity for Ryan, because if he goes in there and does well, he'll keep his place."
Ian began his playing career at Shrewsbury over two decades ago, and returns to Gay Meadow knowing that his transfer money helped fund one of the club's stands.
"I'm pleased Shrewsbury are back in the Football League, but I couldn't give a monkey's about them for 90 minutes tomorrow," he said, "It's a hard place to go, and very much an attitude place. If you're attitude isn't right when you go there, then you'll come unstuck.
"When I moved to Sunderland in August 1985, a lad called Alan Brown went the other way, along with about £40,000 I believe. I was told they used that money to build one of their stands, so it will be nice for me to go back there this weekend!"
www.bristolrovers.co.uk
The Rovers manager believes the Gay Meadow outfit made easy pickings of Darlington during the week because of the way the north east club approached the fixture.
And Ian says his players won't be making the same mistake, on a pitch that he describes as "a disgrace" and "not a proper football pitch".
"The pitch there is very heavy, it's not a proper football pitch really," Ian told bristolrovers.co.uk, " darlington went there on Tuesday and tried to play pretty tippy-tappy football, and they got stung and beaten 4-0. We won't be doing that, and we won't be making their mistakes."
Despite having drawn their last four League Two matches in succession, the gap between Rovers in 14th place and the play-off pack remains at just three points, a gap that could be closed to nothing with a victory this weekend.
"We're due an away win," he said, "We've played exceptionally well in recent weeks, we just haven't got the results we've deserved. We need to go out tomorrow and put the opposition under more pressure, because being unbeaten in six is good, but it could easily have been six wins on the trot.
"It's a game I'm looking forward to, and one I'm confident we can get a positive result from. And I'm looking forward to seeing us get ourselves into a two-goal lead because when we do that the belief and confidence that you seen in this team and the players is tremendous.
"We're more than halfway through the season now, and we haven't been outdone by anyone, we've only been outdone by ourselves. I'm expecting that to change significantly, and I think in the second half of the season we'll kick on massively."
Rovers are expecting to welcome Lee Thorpe and Craig Disley back into the fold tomorrow, with the striker's return in particular a massive boost for the manager.
"When we have Lee in the team it gives us a target man to aim for," said Ian, "We need to get more balls into the box, and having someone like Lee in there gives the players more confidence to get crosses in there. Instead of playing it around with a pass too many, we can get the ball in there and look for Lee to win it for us."
There's not such good news for Aaron Lescott however, who only stands an outside chance of making it for Monday's home game against Northampton Town.
"Aaron is not fit for tomorrow, although he stands an outside chance of being ok for Monday," confirmed Ian, "Steve Elliott looks to be ok after we thought initially we could be looking at him being out for two or three weeks, and John Anderson has been outstanding. So the injury news is definitely looking a bit rosier for us."
Kevin Miller however has been completely ruled out, and will spend his New Year's weekend nursing his injured ankle.
"Kevin is out, but we've got Ryan Clarke who we rate very highly," said Ian, "He's come back from having played seven league games in a row for Kidderminster, so it won't be like throwing him in at the deep end. This is a big opportunity for Ryan, because if he goes in there and does well, he'll keep his place."
Ian began his playing career at Shrewsbury over two decades ago, and returns to Gay Meadow knowing that his transfer money helped fund one of the club's stands.
"I'm pleased Shrewsbury are back in the Football League, but I couldn't give a monkey's about them for 90 minutes tomorrow," he said, "It's a hard place to go, and very much an attitude place. If you're attitude isn't right when you go there, then you'll come unstuck.
"When I moved to Sunderland in August 1985, a lad called Alan Brown went the other way, along with about £40,000 I believe. I was told they used that money to build one of their stands, so it will be nice for me to go back there this weekend!"
www.bristolrovers.co.uk