View from the Dugout

First team manager Asa Hall has had his say ahead of tomorrows Southern League clash with Swindon Supermarine at the Slee Blackwell Solicitors Stadium.

I would like to begin by saying that, first and foremost, I appreciate the opportunity of being entrusted with your football club, and I am enjoying the challenge very much.

Three clean sheets in a week and a five-point return since I took over is exactly what we could have hoped for and I have been really pleased with the performances and the attitude of the players, and their reaction to everything that has happened in such a short space of time. It is really positive and we are hoping to keep that going.

The squad is totally different from my previous spell in charge five or six months ago, and there has been a lot of things to think about and to deal with, but all I can ask from the players is to is to buy into what we are trying to do. We have had a change of shape and personnel, but the attitude towards everything has been spot on. We have tried to give them some details and some small tweaks that can help us go and score goals and win games.

Everyone wants clean sheets, but I would rather play an attacking style of football where the ball is away from our goal and in the opposition’s half and limit opposition chances that way, rather than maybe trying to sit in and protect a 0-0. I think the positive play that we have been trying to get across has, in turn, helped deliver our clean sheets.

I realise that the job on hand, with the games we have got to go, means we need to go and score goals and win games and we are never going to do that by sitting off and sitting deep. So we have got to be brave, step into the game, and take the game to teams with a bit of a high press and lots of work-rate.

My main focus - our main focus - is to is to put points on the board in the next six weeks and hopefully, get the club safe. We know it is going to be a tough ask but we are going to give it everything we can and hopefully we get the job done. I have got a points target in my head that I think we might need but, as I said to the players in training on Tuesday night, each game now is massive. When we win that game, the next game becomes even bigger. I think that is what we have got to aim for - we have got to keep making sure that the next game is bigger than the last. If we are doing that, then we are giving ourselves a very good chance to get safe.

We welcome Stuart Fleetwood and the Swindon Supermarine staff, players and supporters to our stadium. They are a good footballing team and we have got to respect them. We have got a big job on our hands and, although I am looking at Swindon and how they play, the focus is definitely going to be on us, and our formation and our tactics. It is obviously nice to have another set of eyes with Steve Orchard and his experience. We both can see the same pictures and are on the same wavelength, and it is good to work with him.

Last, but definitely not least, I would like to say to our supporters that they are definitely going to be a huge part of everything we are doing. If we can put some numbers through the gate and get some noise going at the stadium, it is only going to help the boys and hopefully, in return, we can put on a show, score some goals, and get some results.

Asa