AHEAD of Grimsby Town's crunch clash with Kidderminster tomorrow, joint boss Rob Scott gives us a round-up of the latest issues at Blundell Park:
ON KIDDERMINSTER…
" Obviously they'll be looking for a reaction to their first defeat in something like 17 games at Gateshead in midweek – we'll have to test their resolve after that defeat. We know it will be a tough game. They're well-drilled, well-organised and confident. It would be foolhardy to say 'lose this game and we're out of the equation'. I don't think Kidderminster would have been saying that before the Gateshead game. It's not done and dusted after one game – there's a long way to go yet. It's probably the most exciting finish there will be to a Blue Square season for a long time. We'll be all right and we'll be in the mix at the end of it. They'll be looking to bounce back and we'll be looking to stop them doing that, so it's going to be interesting."
ON VICTORY OVER FOREST GREEN…
" What pleased me most, wasn't just our second-half performance, but the way the players held their belief. In the second half, that was probably the best we've played for a long time. You could see it all flooding back and we bossed the game. But the players are a level-headed bunch and won't get carried away. They'll just focus on the next game."
ON BRINGING IN NEW FACES…
" I think we might have to. Yesterday, we only had 16 outfield playing training so numbers are thin and we've got a real tough run-in. It's not about who we're playing but the number of days that we are playing them in. It could lead to problems with fatigue. We're working on things and we're speaking to people all the time. But if you're asking me if anything is on the horizon, the answer is no."
ON ASWAD THOMAS AND SHAUN PEARSON….
" Aswad and Shaun didn't train yesterday. I think As will be okay to play tomorrow – it was more as a precaution. Shaun has done quite a bit of work in twisting and turning and complained about a bit of soreness in his knee. We were initially hoping to have him back tomorrow but it might be that he's more ready for Tuesday – but we'll have to see."
ON TEAM SELECTION…
" It's a squad game and when one player doesn't perform as we'd want them to, someone will step in and do their job. It's just a case of managing the squad and the players within it. Each game will be different from now until the end of the season in terms of who we play and how they play. That will be the case again tomorrow. I said to the lads yesterday that I feel for those who aren't playing at the moment because they are all top lads to be fair and all work really hard in training. They'll certainly all get their chance. Decisions will be made that they don't agree with at the time but they know we're doing it for the greater cause. If there's a change to be made we'll make it and sentiment won't come into it. We're yet to make any decisions for tomorrow but we've got ideas in our heads and we might make one or two changes. We won't be making wholesale changes because that's not possible. A couple are forced on us and a couple may be because of the type of game it might be and the way we want to play. We'll see, there might be one or two."
ON GREG PEARSON…
" He's not eligible to face us this weekend and that is always part of the agreement that we have with any club that a player goes to on loan. We don't feel it's right to play against your parent club. It would be foolish to let him play. If he popped up and scored then we'd be chastised throughout Grimsby. Greg wasn't playing for us and I thought it was only fair to Greg to let him go and get games. It wasn't an issue for us and we've got a 24-hour recall on him after 28 days of his loan, so if we need him then he's there."
