Boss’s Notes

THE MANAGER SIMON WEAVER

GOOD EVENING TO YOU ALL and a warm welcome from The EnviroVent Stadium where we are back to host Oldham Athletic this evening. I would like to extend that welcome to Keith Curle, his squad, and the staff from Oldham. We have had a very good week, picking up a valuable draw against Leyton Orient last Tuesday and then continuing that momentum by taking all three points from the Bradford City game on Saturday. With that, we confirmed our place in League Two next season. There was a real buzz around the place and in the changing room after the game against Bradford, particularly having just done the double over our closest local rivals and a club of their size. After all the hard work, it was great to see so many happy faces and I’m sure there were many more watching on at home. If you had said at the start of the season that we’d be safe with four games to play, we’d have grabbed it with both hands. On Saturday, we were really good in the first half and deservedly lead at the break but as we fully expected, Bradford came at us in the second half and were in the ascendency for large parts. But, we defended well and held firm, and although they got an equaliser, a moment of class from Josh McPake earned us the three points and a valuable win. We have shown a real character and determination in the last two games and to come away with four points against two ‘in-form’ sides is no more than the lads deserve. It’s been a little while since we’ve tasted victory and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing what wins mean to the players, and staff. It is very satisfying after the hard work that goes into preparing for a game and we have to continue putting in that hard work for the remaining few weeks of the season. It is important now to finish the season on a real high and maintain those levels for our trip to Wembley. Similarly to Bradford, Oldham carry a huge threat up top and are one of the divisions’ top scorers, so we will need to nullify that threat early on and take the game to them and get on the front foot from the start. It’s another tough game, but we are looking forward to it and are keen to continue the momentum that we have built recently. The lifting of some restrictions has been a real boost for everyone, but I would like to urge everyone to remain sensible and continue to be considerate of each other. In doing so it paves the way for fans to return at all levels next season. We can’t wait for that and are so pleased that we have earned a second bite at the cherry as a League Two club for the supporters more than anything. We have learnt so much this season and will aim to improve on our position next year and with the help of our supporters backing us, will be in a great position to do so. Simon