Captain’s Notes

THE CAPTAIN JOSH FALKINGHAM

WE COME INTO TODAY’S GAME off the back of a solid performance against Exeter City in our last home match and we’ve taken four out of a possible six points against them, which is a great return, especially as we had to battle with 10 men last week.

The break in games allowed us to have a bit of respite and it’s probably been good for us physically. Mentally we haven’t switched off but it’s allowed us to have a bit of a breather and give our legs a short break. We’ve had three tough games recently - two against top seven sides Exeter and Salford as well as the defeat to Tranmere on Tuesday which was disappointing. However, those games were more like ‘us’ and getting back to what we’re about in terms of fight, energy and identity. At this time of year there’s going to be scrappy games and although we’ve been used to dominating games in terms of possession, in the last few games we’ve played well without having as much of the the ball. We picked up two points but with the chances we created, it could so easily have been nine. We’re still learning with every game and we know if we start taking more of these chances, it’ll shoot us right up the table. Football is won by putting the ball into the net and creating the big opportunities in front of goal. If it does mean we have less of the ball, then so be it. We want to pick up points first and foremost. Newport are a top side and it’s going to be a really tough afternoon. They have quality who’ll look to dominate possession, but we’ve just got to stick to what we know and make sure that we take the opportunities that come our way. The game at their place was a learning curve for me as getting sent off isn’t something that’s happened to me too often in my career. In the heat of the moment, things like that can happen and it’s something I hope I don’t do again. That feeling of sitting in the changing room when the lads still have to put a shift in is horrible. I’ve had bad feelings when coming off injured but it’s different when it’s through punishment. But as I said, as long as we create the chances, it’ll boost confidence and then the goals should come. It’s funny in football how quickly things can suddenly go your way. We’ve got to keep building, putting points on the board and then see where it takes us.