After last Saturday’s disappointing performance away at Barnet FC saw the Shots’ away form come to an end, Aldershot Town will look to return to winning ways back at home against King’s Lynn Town FC on Tuesday evening.
Hear what the gaffer Danny Searle had to say in full:
Q: Well Danny it’s important to bounce back with a performance we know we’re capable of on Tuesday against King’s Lynn Town.
“We were unrecognisable on Saturday, stood on the side-line it baffled me some of the things we did or didn’t do but there’s no point harping on about it because from a points perspective we’re on target to get the points we wanted to get this month.
“If we had lost at Notts County but beat Barnet, no one would really say anything, but we did get the three points against Notts County which gives you a free hit at times and it’s just disappointing that we didn’t take those extra bonus points. We didn’t, so we move on and we look forward to King’s Lynn coming here, I envision it being a very good game.”
Q: Not going back on Saturday for too long but it’s important that we take what we need to from that game, reflect on it and then take it forward into Tuesday’s game.
“There’s a lot of don’t ever do that again from Saturday’s game. The boys have learnt from that and push on, we’ll take that one on the chin.
“They’re a good side (King’s Lynn), they play some really good football and they’ve had some good results themselves recently, so I think it’ll be a really entertaining game.”
Q: Something that has got a lot of criticism and engagement recently on social media is the plans for a European Super League, that affects us a little as we encourage people to support clubs like us and support their local club.
“Us more than a lot of teams, especially at this level, because we’ve got a board of directors that have put a structure in place where we haven’t got a rich benefactor that just throws cash at stuff, we have to raise our own funds and part of that is massively dependant on our crowds.
“Our budget is dictated by what our attendances are and we could really do with some extra funds, so if you support any of those teams and don’t fancy traveling around Europe, then you will all be welcome at the EBB.”
Q: As mentioned, King’s Lynn, they’re a team that are new to us in this division, maybe they’re in a league position that doesn’t quite reflect the performances they put into games.
“As I’ve said, they play some great stuff, they’ve got a total football mentality and it’s a pleasure to watch because I think there’s more teams that have played more football this season which is nice, it’s a massive compliment to the league because the standard of players that are now playing at this level.
“If you look at the size of some of the clubs that are playing at this level, potentially the size of some of the clubs that are coming out of the league to play at this level, you could argue that it’s a stronger more competitive league than league 2 with the level of teams that are in it.
It is what it is and as I’ve said I think King’s Lynn haven’t done themselves any harm this year with what they’ve tried to do, that’s a credit to the manager and the club, they’ve set a stall out and they’ve stuck to it so fair play.”
Q: And of course, they’ve lost a few key players over the past few weeks but like many clubs at this level, they’ve got over it, learnt to adapt and then move on from it.
“Yeah, we’ve all had to deal with losing players one way or another because people can’t afford to keep them or loan players having to be sent back because they just don’t have the funds to do it, or injuries, we’ve had that issue.
“I think every club in some way probably from the bottom ten down have all had to deal with that in some way. The clubs in our pool of clubs, haven’t got the resources to do what some of the bigger clubs are doing and just signing 6 or 7 players in two weeks and have bought them from clubs.
“We can’t do that, so we have to learn and adapt and that’s a challenge of the job, it’s an enjoyable job because you’ve really got to do your homework on players and make sure you get it right. I think, touch wood, our recruitment has been really good this season, I don’t think we’ve got many wrong at all.
“We’ve been unfortunate with some injuries, but I think everyone’s played a part in a way where the fact that the amount of players the supporters are talking about wanting to stay next season, is proof that we as the staff have done a good job bringing them to the club.”
Q: You could argue that we’re in a much better position in the league as well, we’re not looking down anymore, we’re looking up and seeing how far off the play-offs we are.
“Even after Saturday’s defeat, we’re 8 points off the play-offs and 16 points off the relegation zone, the lads have to take all the credit for that. In every single column this season, goals, wins, clean sheets, we’re better than we were last year. That was the objective this season, to improve on last year.
“I know we had a chat about it on Saturday with discussions about play-offs but that was never the objective this season, if it happened then great, but the objective was to make progress.
“We have to be in a place where we can sustain a challenge and then if we did pick up injuries, we’ve got the resources to then go and add to the squad. Unfortunately, with the current situation, that’s not the case and that’s fine. We have to praise what we have done, which is make good progress.
“We’re a solid mid-table side at the minute, when you think 18 months ago theoretically, we should have been in the Conference South, the players deserve all the credit for that and it’s fantastic work from them.”
Q: And just a final point, King’s Lynn, they’ll be looking to bounce back after a 4-2 defeat on Saturday.
“Yeah, they were 2-0 up, they’re going to come here full of confidence that they’re going to score goals and we’ve got the confidence that we can score goals as well so it’ll be a really entertaining evening.”
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