FC Halifax Town resume their National League North campaign this Saturday when they welcome Tamworth to the MBi Shay Stadium, hoping to keep their unbeaten run going, and to stay top of the league table. After a 1-1 draw with Stockport County on Tuesday night, Billy Heath has still never seen his side slump to defeat and no doubt expects to see that continue when the Shaymen return to the pitch on the weekend.
Looking ahead to the game, we spoke to Scott Garner on what he expects to see on Saturday as well as what the squad took from the Stockport result.
Garner was overall pleased with the Tuesday game, but knows there’s still slight room for improvement…
“I think the most positive thing is how disappointed everyone was to come in drawing the game, rather than winning. The manager said it’s a good point away at Stockport, but the lads are disappointed we didn’t take three, so it shows what mindset we’re in. I think we made one mistake, a lot of our wingers shouldn’t be picking up from a set-piece. Apart from that, I thought we played exactly the right way at Stockport. I think we can raise our tempo again and move the ball a bit quicker. But I think we did everything right really. We went to a big club, drew 1-1, not a bad result, and we can go and try get three points this Saturday”
Tamworth’s two victories this season have both came with late goals giving the Lambs the three points. Scott is confident this won’t be the case when the two teams clash at the Shay…
“I don’t think we finish weak, I think we finish quite strong. I don’t think we’re going to switch off for anything against any team. We’re such a strong team in this league, I think we’ve just got to concentrate on our game a lot of the time, and we’ll get the points and the wins that we deserve, that’s the mindset we have going into games”
He also expects a reaction from the visitors, but believes himself and his teammates will be too much to handle come kick-off…
“You’ll expect the reaction. If you lose 3-0, you’re always guaranteed a reaction from a club. It’s down to us, if we do it right on the day and work hard, I don’t think anyone can live with us in this league, so that’s what we’re focusing on. It’s a good result for Boston, glad to see them get off the mark with a win. We go into the games concentrating on our game, and we’re pretty sure we’ve got too much for anyone in this league if we go about our business in the right way”
Garner also thinks his side have a great chance to keep the club’s unbeaten run going and come away with the maximum points…
“We don’t like getting beat, we’ve got a lot of winners and big characters on our team. Even at 1-1, the Stockport fans started making a lot of noise, they were coming onto us a bit, but we were never going to back down and get beat. I think we’re going to be a really hard team to beat and teams will be happy taking a point of us I think. Teams will be happy taking a point from us I think. The unbeaten run could go on all season couldn’t it, but if it doesn’t then we bounce back and go again in the next game, but we don’t like getting beat at all, so hopefully it doesn’t happen too often”
And with the reward of league leaders coming with the unbeaten run, the morale and confidence boosts also give the squad a huge lift…
“It’s massive to be on an unbeaten run, you go into games not expecting to lose, and you go in expecting to win. I think that’s why we were so disappointed drawing the other night, because we’re used to winning, we don’t like anything less than three points. The unbeaten run is really important. Teams don’t expect to beat you, so as long as that can carry on, the better really. It’s inevitable you will lose a game, but it’s the reaction to come back and win the next one that’s important. It’s important but it’s not massive factor in the season, but we do want to keep it going for as long as possible”
FC Halifax Town’s game with Tamworth is on Saturday at 3pm.
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