Jack Ross reckons that his players are refreshed and ready to go, following the international break. Ross said: “There’s two sides to look it, we were in a decent vein of form, we had started to build momentum, so we didn’t really want that break, but equally we would be without important players. It has been fairly demanding for the players since pre-season, everything that has gone on, the intensity, it was an opportunity to have a breather. We don’t want a backlog of fixtures though so don’t want too many of them. All the other teams got good results last Saturday, but we know if we continue in the manner of performance we have been then hopefully we can progress upwards as well. The difference with internationals these days is that the games are spread over a number of days. We had Jon McLaughlin who was first back because Scotland played on Sunday. Tom Flanagan only joined us on Thursday because Northern Ireland played Tuesday night. Then we had Bryan Oviedo who only arrived Thursday, even though he is obviously suspended. But the ones I have seen are healthy and ready to go again. I include Bali Mumba and Benji Kimpioka in that too, they have been back training (after England and Sweden Under-18 appearances). It has been fragmented in terms of numbers for training, but we have everyone around again now.”
We now face two away trips (Shrewsbury and Doncaster) in the space of four days. Ross added: “We had time off over the weekend, then this week it has been normal week. We were a bit heavier on the load at the start of the week. We did that because we have a busy schedule coming up, midweek games means training time is cut short. You don’t get as much time on the training ground in this league and that is something I have to get used to. We have used this break to get a couple of really good sessions in and then given them a bit of rest. The players have come back in and they have been bang at it. I have got to spend some time with my wife and kids too. The wife and kids are here, they’re loving it, enjoying it, which is great from my perspective. I love this job and I want everyone to be happy here. The fact I love it makes it easier, especially in the lovely weather like we have had the last few days. It’s been a nice couple of weeks and now we just have to make sure we are ready for Shrewsbury match.”
Ross also reckons that Shrewsbury Town, who reached the play off final last year, will be no pushovers! “I think they’ll be frustrated that they have managed to quite continue that momentum from last season, but equally they’re still a good side. They proved that with the success they had last year over the course of the season, so it’s another difficult game for us, every single game is. I think there’s probably two sides of looking at it [the international break]. We were obviously in a decent vein of form and started to build a little bit of momentum, but equally we were going to be without important players. We go into an important week knowing that if we continue in the manner of the performances that we have done, and keep producing positive results, then we’re going to stay at least where we are and hopefully then progress upwards again. Selling out our allocation is an outstanding show of loyalty, but as always, it brings a greater intensity to the game and creates that almost cup-tie environment. So, we expect that Saturday to begin with and obviously Tuesday when it comes around.”
