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Bradford Park Avenue: Need The Same Attitude

Posted by Kelly Gilchrist
Posted on Thu 22 Sep 2016
Posted in First Team

Itโ€™s derby day this Saturday as FC Halifax Town host Bradford Park Avenue at the MBi Shay Stadium.

The opponents, who are still searching for their first win of the season, currently sit at the bottom of the league table, but as football has taught us many times, that means nothing when it comes down to the 90 minutes on the pitch.

As for the Shaymen, thereโ€™s only four points between them and the play-off spots, so Saturday comes with the chance to move closer to the top, and also to bounce back from the defeat at Gainsborough.

We talked to goalkeeper Steven Drench about his thoughts on the weekendโ€™s gameโ€ฆ

โ€œWe need to keep the same attitude that we had at Ashton. I think a lot of the players know that Gainsborough wasnโ€™t up to the standards that we set earlier in the season. Gainsborough was a poor result but at Ashton we showed a much better performance, so hopefully we can go from there. The manager just told us that the Ashton game was all about attitude. We know being a couple of leagues higher up, we had the quality to go win the game, but we had to match them. We just need to build on that really and take the same attitude into the game.โ€

At Ashton Athletic, the travelling fans were treat to five goals from five different players, and Steven hopes the team can take this quality in front of goal to Saturdayโ€™s fixtureโ€ฆ

โ€œWe won the game quite comfortably, but the most encouraging thing was the amount of chances we created. Their goalkeeper was man of the match; he must have made 5 or 6 really good saves. Some of the goals we scored were really good, especially Jordan Sinnottโ€™s with his left foot. Itโ€™s something to build on for this Saturday game. If we can create the chances, itโ€™s only going to be a matter of time before we start scoring a few goals, and give a few teams a good batteringโ€
Alex Meechan was relieved of his managerial duties on Monday after failing to win any of his 11 games in charge, with his successor to be announced at some point today. Even though Saturdayโ€™s opponents will have a newly appointed boss in the dugout on the weekend, Steven knows that it shouldnโ€™t have an effect on Halifaxโ€™s chances of victoryโ€ฆ

โ€œYou can say Bradford havenโ€™t won a game yet, but they are going to win a game eventually. We just need to make sure that it isnโ€™t this Saturday. Youโ€™ve got to treat every game with the respect it deserves, whether itโ€™s Bradford Park Avenue or Fylde, every game is a difficult game. Whether the new manager is brought in by Saturday or isnโ€™t, the players will be looking to impress and make sure theyโ€™re going to be in the starting eleven when the manager does come in, so thatโ€™s going to make it a little bit tougher for us. But if we play like we can play, and take the work rate and the finishing into the game, then hopefully we should have enough to get the three points.โ€

And with former Altrincham midfielder David Lynch joining Billy Heathโ€™s squad, Steven believes the experience he brings with him, will have a positive effect on the teamโ€ฆ.

โ€œHe played at Altrincham for a while; heโ€™s been at this level for a good while so itโ€™s an experienced player whoโ€™s used to playing at this standard. Youโ€™ve got win the right to win games, firstly matching the physical side of it, before you can put your focus on the game, so I think the experience heโ€™s got from playing at this level for a good few years will stand us in good stead and hopefully he can have a good start on Saturday for us, and then he might play a bigger part as the season goes on.โ€

FC Halifax Town play Bradford Park Avenue at The Shay on Saturday at 3pm

Read more posts by Kelly Gilchrist

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