Danny Schofield is expecting a tough nut to crack when Northampton Town visit the Eco-Power Stadium on Saturday.
The Cobblers are chasing an automatic promotion place and are doing so with one of the meanest defences in Sky Bet League Two.
Schofield on facing Northampton:
“They’re in a really good vein of form, they’ve had a really good season so far and they’re fighting for that automatic spot so we know it’s going to be a tough challenge. We’ll prepare as intensely as always and try to be as thorough as possible to know the opponent and then have our game plan and our way of doing things come Saturday. We’ll embrace the challenge and hopefully have a positive performance and a positive result.
“They’re a very well coached team and very well organised - you can see that. They’re a difficult nut to crack but we’ll be focusing on what we can do in order to do that.”
On efforts to create more chances:
“It was probably the lowest chances created on Tuesday night. We were missing creative and attacking players. We know how defensively structured and solid we need to be first and foremost to be competitive, with whatever players we put on the pitch.
“We drew that game with Crawley with low stats. We’ve had games where we’ve had the stats, and created lots of opportunities and lost those games and I’ve been critical of myself and the players for not converting those chances.
“We’ve shown we can create opportunities and attacks. In some games that doesn’t materialise but we know it’s an area where we need to improve for the next game.
“We know we’re missing some players but we need to focus on all areas of the game and produce more attacking moments to create the opportunities.”
On getting the basics correct:
“Basics are always the basis of everything. The fundamentals that I speak about quite a lot both in and out of possession are a real focus for us. When we win the ball back, what do we do with it because we don’t want lots of turnovers and want to be creating chances from a possession base. It’s something we need to improve for the next nine games. “
On making progress:
“Speaking prior to maybe the last handful of games, we’ve shown real signs of progression and performances that have been positive. I know everything is judged on results but I’m a process-driven person and I can’t not be who I am, it’s exactly what I am.
“I’ve seen real positives in terms of moving forward. In discussions with myself and James Coppinger, it’s about a vision and the club trying to implement that so what we are trying to do can be sustained for a long period of time. That is sometimes at the expense of quick results and quick turnover.
“But we’re trying to build something and grow something. It’s a football club that has that as a vision and supports that process. Sometimes you have to go through those difficult moments of not winning football games to get to where you want to be.
“We want to win the next football game. We’re not going out just to perform, we are performing to win so we have to see what is available, what the game plan is in order to implement our key principles but also to win games.”
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