Louis Jones spoke to the media ahead of a trip to Morecambe in Sky Bet League One.
The goalkeeper discussed Gary McSheffrey’s appointment, improvements the team need to make and the appointment of goalkeeping coach Steve Hernandez as the side prepare for a crunch game with the Shrimps.
On Gary McSheffrey’s appointment:
“The lads have taken the news really well. It’s not a massive change because we’ve got used to the gaffer’s training and we can see that each session has an objective behind it which is what we want as players.
“I think he’s a very good coach, he understands things tactically and he’ll tell players, in the right way, what they need to be told. I remember times in the U23s that there was no beating about the bush, if you weren’t pulling your weight, you’d be told but he delivers messages in the right way.
“We’ve got used to the way he wants to manage and the way he wants to run the training schedule. I think it’s good that we don’t have to start completely fresh again because you could lose the work we’ve done in the past four weeks and we don’t really have that time, we need to change things quickly.”
On work on the training ground:
“People have said it a lot this season, but it is really important that we do the basics right. We need to do the fundamentals and build from there.
“We’re working on the things that went wrong in the last game, while also looking forward to the opponent coming up next so we’re rectifying things while working towards the next goal and the next game.”
On the league:
“It's almost like a mini-league around us and we just need to focus on winning our games and climbing up places in our mini-league.
“The feeling after winning the Shrewsbury game, which we knew was a match that was important to us, gave the lads a lot of spirit.
“I think it’s about not getting too down about the loss to Sunderland and carrying forward that feeling from Shrewsbury into Morecambe.
“We, as players have got to give everything and show the fans that we are doing that. No one wants to be in the situation that we’re in. Players, fans, manager, board – no one wants to be bottom of the league so in terms of getting the best out of everyone, it’s a collective effort and as long as we can show the desire that the fans deserve then the fans will back us the whole way through.”
On the appointment of Steve Hernandez as goalkeeping coach:
“I’m really happy for Steve, I’ve known him a long time. He’s worked with me at U23’s and we’ve worked closely since because he used to join training when Gez [Paul Gerrard] was in charge.
“He has a similar coaching style to Gez in terms of the sessions that he puts on, but the relationship I have with Steve is more of an open dialogue so I can go to him with things that I want to work on, and we can look at things together and review them.
“It’s really positive. He’s really willing to be there for me, work with me and work on the things I want to improve so that’s really good.”
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