After Good Friday’s disappointing defeat against Stockport County, Aldershot Town will look to return to winning ways against Dagenham & Redbridge on Easter Monday.
Hear what Assistant Manager Anwar Uddin had to say in full:
Q: Well Anwar it’s important to bounce back after a disappointing defeat on good Friday.
“Yes, the games come thick and fast at this time of the season, so if you are unfortunate enough to have a defeat there’s a game on the horizon that we can prepare for and get back to it so it will be great to get back to winning ways on Monday”
Q: Especially the way the season’s panned out and the games we’ve had in quick concession, rotation’s clearly been important with player’s fitness in mind and everything like that as well.
“Yeah, I think in an ideal world you want 11, 12 maybe 13 players that can remain fit throughout the season, you identify what is your strongest team is, what formation they work best in and if everyone can stay fit you’ve got a great opportunity to do really well.
“Unfortunately, during this season we’ve lost key players at key moments but it’s great to have some of them coming back to training, we’ve now seen Kinsella make two appearances and he is getting stronger.
“It’s a busy period, we need to utilise the whole squad so it’s great that we have players coming back but very unfortunate that we lost another couple at the weekend.”
Q: A lot of fans would argue that it’s difficult because we go two, three wins in a row with a good performance then a disappointing defeat where we’re expected to win and then vice versa with form then being inconsistent.
“Listen consistency is key, we’ll be the first to admit that we’ve had at times great runs then a defeat which you wouldn’t expect. One thing we have done is when defeats have come or performances haven’t been great, we’ve always had the ability to come up with a performance like at Notts County, two away defeats and then a great away win.
“The lads are resilient, they’re always up for the challenge but consistency is key and I think sometimes to compliment consistency it’s always good to have a settled eleven and players to pick from but ultimately it’s about learning and maturity.
Regardless whether we play good, bad or average, being able to turn defeats into draws, draws into wins I think we are doing that better, we’re improving but consistency and getting that consistency are ultimately what it’s all about.”
Q: It’s a very young squad here as well to be fair, there’s not many players who are over the age of 25 or 26 here.
“It is a young squad, I think comparatively we’re one of the youngest in the league and always have been since we’ve been here. I think that’s one of our strengths, giving young players an opportunity to learn and develop because they turn into players that become experienced at this level, but that takes learning and development.
“I think throughout that learning phase you might get periods where there are mistakes but that’s what it’s all about, we’ve got a young squad and we want to develop our squad individually and as a team. I think this year we’ve done it better than last year, I think this year, players are starting to learn that if you’re winning in the last couple of minutes then how to play out the game.
“Our game management has improved, individual decision making has improved, so that’s what it’s about, it’s about individually improving and improving as a team. Hopefully if we can keep doing those things, consistency will come.”
Q: As you mentioned good Friday, I guess the injury you’re referring to is Alfy, what’s the latest news on him?
“Yeah, Alfy had his scan yesterday, it’s not a break which is good news but we can’t really at this moment determine how long he’s going to be out for. It’s just sods law if you like, we’re bringing players back looking at the squad thinking it’s really healthy at a time where we need it the most and then we lose Alfy and potentially Giles going back to Wycombe.
“That’s two key players from the starting eleven that we are now going to miss but that’s why you have a squad. For me it would be great if we could identify an eleven and give them a period of games where we can say okay here’s a month where we’re going to play lots of games and it’s going to be a busy period, stay fit, stay strong and let’s get some points.”
Q: And of course, on Giles I think yesterday he’s gone back to Wycombe for now and we wish him all the best whether he’s back or not.
“Giles is a fantastic player and a fantastic lad, I think he’s been brilliant in the changing room, for me Wycombe have got a great asset there and I’m just fortunate that at a time where we needed him, again going back to that phase where we had all of our centre-halfs injured, we needed to bring someone in and we identified Giles as a potential player that we could get in and look at maybe having him long term.
“The thing is with good players, they’re in demand, we’d love to be able to have that discussion with him but he will have options, at the minute we’re just concentrating on the next amount of games and obviously Giles isn’t with us.
“It’s an opportunity for other players to come into the squad, state their claim and get the points and the performances that we need.”
Q: Exactly that and you’d argue that people like Ben Shroll maybe would look to get involved in the starting eleven or maybe the team line-up for a few weeks time.
“Yeah, we work hard in training with the stuff we do behind the scenes, we work hard to prepare players so that if needed they are ready. It can be frustrating for the likes of Ben Shroll and a lot of our other younger players in the squad but like Ryan Hall, there will be opportunities and hopefully it will come sooner rather than later and then what an experience to then come in, experience National League football and develop yourself and develop your game.
“We have no issues with giving young players an opportunity here and all the work we do in training is developing them for when that opportunity comes.”
Q: And for our next game obviously Dagenham a place you know well, maybe last season it wasn’t our best performance, arguably our worst performance of last season so we’ll be looking for a bit of revenge there.
“Yeah, we were great against them this year at home, I thought we were really great against them in the first half, they’re I think a better side I think it’s taken them a little bit longer to develop and create that team ethos and hard to beat but they’ve got some very good players, they’ve got a good manager, great club.
“I was there for a long time and a place I love to go so I’m really looking forward to it and it’s going to be a great game I think to be honest, it’s two team that are probably better than the league position would suggest, we definitely have some great individual players but us and them.
“So it’s a great game for the neutrals and a challenge I’m looking forward to and I know for a fact that the players will be very much looking forward to going back there.”
Q: And of course, the game we played here was with fans so it will be weird going back to their place and having no fans.
“Yeah not having any fans this year has been strange, we had that little period where fans were allowed back into watch games throughout the country and it was great to have them here and I’m glad they saw a first half like they did at Dagenham because I thought we were brilliant.
“To be honest, regardless of who we play, I think when we are at our best, we irradicate those mistakes and add that maturity to our game, I think we can compete with everyone. If we do that tomorrow, I have no issues at all that we will be able to compete with Dagenham who are a good side and have got good players.
“So it’ll be a great game, a game that I’m confident in that we can go there and get something.”
You can also sign up for the Dagenham & Redbridge streaming service which starts just before 3pm on Easter Monday HERE.
You can the full interview on our official YouTube channel HERE!
