Following FC Halifax Town’s 2-1 win away at Oldham Athletic, manager Chris Millington spoke to Shaymen TV to give his thoughts on the game.
“I really enjoyed it tonight,” Millington said. “It was a good game. Oldham did what Oldham do, they were slightly less direct in actual fact than I thought they’d be. They tried to build more which was a little surprise for us, we prepared for a little more directness. I thought we got to grips with that, the front three worked incredibly hard to nullify their ability to build from the back, and it became a really interesting game. Frustrating to concede another set piece, but then pleasing to score off a set piece. Dead pleased.”
Millenic Alli was one of two changes to the squad, with the wide missing out due to an injury concern.
“We knew he’d been playing with a niggle in his groin,” Millington told Shaymen TV. “He went through the match prep yesterday, so we did all our match prep with him ready to start. Then, after the session he raised the issue and said he might not be available to play, then I got a call this morning saying he didn’t feel he was capable of playing. So, this presented a great opportunity for Andrew Oluwabori. He would’ve got an opportunity soon enough anyway because he’s training really well and he’s done brilliantly well tonight. He’s covered so much ground, he’s got us up the pitch, he’s linked the play with real quality, and he’s really calmed us down at times. Then, when he drifts past two or three Oldham players in the second half and gets his shot off, working the keeper, you just want that one to go in because of all the hard work he’s put in throughout the game.”
Town took the lead just past the half hour mark as Rob Harker netted his first of the season with a goal of the season contender.
“He’s finishes like that in training all the time,” Millington said. “Technically, his ball striking and his finishing is as good as anyone I’ve worked with and we want to get that out of him more. We want more goals out of him and he’s got the ability. The more often we can get him forward facing on goal, the more of them you’ll see. But what we’ve also got to do is recognise his work rate in other areas of the game; he’s pressed incredibly well today, he’s done the ugly stuff that it took him a season to learn, he’s linked the play well, and he’s gone to work with Hogan and Raglan who are two fantastically experienced centre halves. He’s won headers, he’s held it up, and people need to recognise his all-round contribution. It was only 12 months ago that there were voices of dissent against Mani Dieseruvwe, then come the end of the season, nobody wanted him to leave and I believe, within the next couple of months or so, people will be really impressed with what they see come out of Rob Harker once he’s got a run of games.”
Up next for Town sees Oxford City visit the Shay with the newly promoted side yet to pick up a point this season.
“These are one of the games we planned to improve,” Millington told Shaymen TV. “Going into this season, we knew we were good against some of the top teams last season,, then we let ourselves down against those who were struggling down the bottom end of the division. Clearly, Oxford have had a difficult start to the season so this presents an opportunity to show how we can be better than we were last year around how we look to break down difficult oppositions and teams who are fighting for their lives. We’ll do everything we can to beat them and it’d be great if the fans could get behind the lads to play their part as they did tonight.”
Watch the full interview on Shaymen TV
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