Crawley Town boss Rob Elliot prepared for tough battle against Stevenage

SussexWorld

Crawley Town host Stevenage at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday in a league One fixture. Here Rob Elliot reflects on the Charlton win and looks ahead to the Stevenage game

Transcript

00:00Rob, thank you for joining us. Off the back of a brilliant win on Tuesday night, we're

00:05back at home as we face Stevenage this weekend. Can I get your thoughts in on that game?

00:09Yes, it's going to be a tough game. Very good team. One of the best defensive teams in the

00:14league. Good outlets up front, good pace, good energy. It's going to be a tough game.

00:20They're all tough games, aren't they? We keep saying it. No games like that. They're all

00:24very close and we just need to build on what we've done. Obviously, we've spent a lot of

00:28energy Tuesday, so we just have to look after the boys the next day or so and then just

00:32prep as best we can ready for the game and make sure we can try and keep this little

00:36run we're on going, but make sure we understand why we've been on a good run and not come

00:40away from the things that have got us the last couple of wins in the league.

00:45Yes, it's going to be another physical test, isn't it? We know what Stevenage are about.

00:48They're one of the, again, more physical sides that we're going to face, but we've shown

00:52in recent games that we're more than up for the fight in these physical battles. I think

00:57we spoke a little bit after the game, didn't we? You look at their strikers and one of

01:00their centre-backs, six-foot-five, six-foot-six, whatever they are, and you've got the likes

01:04of Charlie Barker getting up for every header and winning them, so we'll be more than equipped

01:08for any of those fights, won't we?

01:09100 per cent. Size is only... Mentality beats physicality, as long as it's right, and I

01:15think that's what we've had well. Joy, Charlie, Ben, Tobes, they've been exceptional and immense

01:21as much as them, but Max, Jeremy, everyone's just tipping in, having to be an extra foot

01:27taller in the way they play and a bit smarter in terms of the way they play, so we're pleased

01:30with that. We know it's always going to be difficult. We know that sometimes, like the

01:33goal on Saturday, you get undone by direct balls and stuff, but I think as long as we

01:37can make sure we keep adapting, keep squeezing the line, we keep good distances, we keep

01:41improving, we can't expect us to be perfect from now to the end of the season, but as

01:45long as we're looking to get better in little areas, then that's the main thing, and I thought

01:48Tuesday was a good example of that, and we're definitely going to have to be even better

01:52again because Stevenage are a very good team.

01:54Yes, and some great momentum has taken over the game, which we spoke about after the game.

01:57We're now extending the unbeaten run in the league even further, and a lot of teams will

02:01be looking at us as the team they don't want to play at the moment because we're in such

02:04great form.

02:05Yes, hopefully there's a bit of that now, but I think what we've found at this level

02:09and every game you go into is that teams have massive threats and massive squads as well,

02:13so whether it's the starting XI or people coming off the bench, they can really hurt

02:16you. So, yes, we need to make sure that when we start well, like we've done, we've started

02:21well at home recently in the last few games and want to continue that momentum.

02:24Even the Lincoln game, we started really well before we petered off.

02:26Obviously, the squad was thin then, but I want to make sure we start well, start aggressively,

02:31start on the front foot, and like you say, our challenge as a group is to keep this run

02:36going as best we can, and that comes with the right mentality and attacking it in the

02:39right way, and yes, I think the learning is maybe just taking a little bit more control

02:44in games and maybe being a bit more offensive when we can be and going for the second and

02:48third goals when they come, but you've got to do the basics well, and I think that's

02:53what's been pleasing recently is we've been starting from a solid structure.

02:57It's 0-0, we're going 1-0 up, and the game's never away from us, and even when it does,

03:02we're able to then, like we've shown on Tuesday, we're able to come back and take the three

03:06points, which is pleasing as well because the mentality, actually, I saw the lads galvanise

03:10and it looked like they wanted to go on and win the game, not just see out for a draw.

03:14A phrase you use quite a lot is you don't get too high, you don't get too low. On Tuesday,

03:19it seemed quite high after the end, understandably. Is it easy to bring yourselves and the players

03:23back into focus for the next game?

03:25Yes, because you have to watch Stevenage and then they're very good. When you watch the

03:29opposition, same with Choltenham, we watched them play against Walsall and Burton before

03:33that and they're excellent, so yes, you've got to enjoy the moments, and it was a big

03:38night for everyone, it was a big night for the club at a place that is the first league

03:41meeting between the two clubs, so I think that was significant. Obviously, the fan base

03:44that we took showed what it meant to the club as a whole and obviously, a win of that nature,

03:49you've got to enjoy it and the lads deservedly enjoyed it and I think that now we have to

03:54reset and understand what we did to have the feeling at the end zone. We have to work hard

03:58for 100 minutes, half an hour before we have to reset, recover and do all the videos and

04:04the training and go again. You can't get too high, you can't get too low, just when you

04:09lose and it's not a good performance, you can't get too down on it and you can't feel

04:12too negative. You have to realise, you have to look at it, understand why, look at yourself,

04:15look at the lads and just try and work together to make sure we can fix it.

04:18With the recent performances and results, does that change in any way and does it change

04:32your team's preparation in any way that you might not be the underdogs anymore, especially

04:36when you're playing at home?

04:37No, not really. I think we still are. I think when you look at the size of the clubs and

04:42even the league position, it looks nicer, but it's obviously so tight, the difference.

04:46So, I don't think it changes our mentality to how we approach it. We're just trying to

04:50improve as a squad. We're still trying to get my messages and our messages and new staff

04:54across. The players have been fantastic in buying into that and we're starting to see

04:59the messages that we were trying to get into early become sort of consistent now. We're

05:02moving on to the next things and so on and so forth. So, there's always going to be peaks

05:06and troughs and ups and downs, but I think as long as I can see that buy-in from the

05:09lads, which I have, and I think when you put out a team, you know they're going to give

05:13you absolutely everything. Efforts demand, quality is expected and sometimes the quality

05:19isn't always there, but if the effort's there, I know with this bunch, the quality will always

05:22come and it might not be 10 minutes 15, it might be the 85th, but we know we've got quality

05:27moments in us and we just want to be more consistent with that and keep working towards

05:30a point where we're at the most optimal level, I suppose.

05:34You mentioned staff then. On Tuesday night, you mentioned Louis, particularly after the

05:38game, about his part in the win and the substitutions. Can you just, as somebody the fans might not

05:44know properly yet, haven't got to know him because he hasn't been in that long and you

05:46haven't seen much of him, but can you give us a little bit of an insight into Louis,

05:51his kind of character and your relationship with him?

05:53Yes, I've known Louis for a long time. He was a scholar at Newcastle and then he ended

05:56up working at the club and then he started running our academy. They set up an academy

06:01in the North East. He's a brilliant coach. He's been coaching since he was 20. Brilliant

06:05leader on the pitch, fantastic footballer in his own right. He's playing every week

06:08in the National League. He's probably one of the best defenders in the National League

06:11up until he came here. He still trains with the lads now, but he just brings that willing

06:14mentality and that aggressiveness and that desire to get better every day and everything

06:18he does. That really helps me because I'm quite laid back and I think we balance off

06:23each other quite well. He's obviously just a really good friend. The same with Andy Sweeney,

06:27he's one of the top coaches, one of the best coaches I've ever worked with, whether playing

06:30or managing. So, it's a really good group. We get on really well and obviously what's

06:34been more important is the staff that are already here, how well they've took to us

06:37and how much they've helped us. Ricky Hafs, obviously Dicker coming in has just tipped

06:41the goalies to another level in my opinion. I think they've been absolutely exceptional.

06:44Whoever's played in goal, we've had a lot of them. Jake the analyst and Sam and Matt

06:49as well. We're such a small club, but as we talked about before, everyone has to muck

06:55in and everyone has to play their part because otherwise we're not able to be successful,

06:58especially when you're going up against monsters in this league, some of the clubs, the juggernauts

07:02that they are. I think hopefully in the future we'll be able to do that again. It's not just

07:11myself, it's not just my message, it's a team effort and I think that's what's coming through

07:15is that we're all working together well and it's starting to settle down now because it's

07:18been a mad two months. You can barely get time to breathe.

07:29Yeah, so Jones and Dion were doing a bit of work on the pitch, which is great. They're

07:33still going to be a little bit off. So, again, my mentality with injuries is you don't want

07:38to risk someone. You don't want to rush someone back for one game and lose them for 10. Obviously,

07:43we're so fortunate to have Ricky and the lads and Tom and the lads here that we need to

07:46do what's right by the lads so when they're back, they're back for good. Obviously, Dion,

07:49unfortunately, with his timing of injuries, the club captain's going to be huge for us.

07:53So, yeah, we want to make sure that when the lads are back, they're back properly and there's

07:56lots of lads playing with niggles and things here and there. Toby's early back, so obviously

08:01he was forced to miss the game, but that gives him a week to prepare and get fit. So, no,

08:04it's one of them ones where we're always fragile as a squad because of the nature of this league

08:11and stepping up, but I think the lads on Saturday showed how robust they can be and how determined

08:16they can be. Adi Yeomah hasn't played many games, but I thought he was exceptional going

08:20playing the whole left side on his own and the other night as well. It's just getting

08:26us to that point where we're robust at this level where we can go 90 minutes every single time.

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