‘It Is A Half Decent Point For Us’

Under pressure manager Holland would have taken anything from last nights game against the Posh and was lucky enough to come away with a point thanks to a late Tom Pope goal. He spoke to the official site after the game to give his opinions.

“Their goal was slightly fortunate, it was a ricochet which fell to their striker. Also he had far too much room, so he could have been offside in which case the officials have made a mistake or if he was on side he hasn’t been marked so I will have to look at that. I couldn’t see how we were going to score though, I was pleased enough with the performance between the boxes, but couldn’t see the goal.”

“In the second half, we tried to play too closer together, adjusted Joel Grant’s role a little, and I think looked the better side in the second half. Having said that, we got caught once or twice on the break, and Steve earned his corn there. We were fortunate not to go two behind, one save in particular comes to mind. I also thought we were fortunate with a possible penalty, I will need to look at that again, but I wouldn’t have complained if it had been given from where I was stood.”

“The players kept going really well, which is the big plus, and they have been doing that all the time. Clayton might have got something earlier, with the keeper to beat but couldn’t quite finish. In the end though, it is a half decent point for us. We are not where we are just for bad luck, we have some problems, and we are trying to sort them out as fast as we can. Everyone is determined to turn it around, we have to bring in some players and we know that.”

“We are working on one or two things there. We haven’t had the luck, deflected goals keep flying in but we have had a bit of a break tonight which is long over due.”

Holland will have to take a dive into the loan market to add some strength in the midfield with Occy picking up a nasty injury during the first half of the game last night.

He said “It is too early to say whether Michael will be fit for the weekend as he has a nasty gash on his foot. He tried to carry on and he would literally play with a severe injury for us, but at this stage he would have to be a doubt for us this weekend.”

“We’ve got some work to do in the loan market. We have provisionally set up a midfield player which we will need to pick up on. Reinforcements are required. We have got to bring in some players and we are working on one or two things there.”

Holland does realise that the pressure is mounting though, with increasing fans protests (good on you all!) at home and away games in the form of singing and banners. In comments to BBC Radio Stoke “We’re all working together to improve results, but neither myself, the players, the board or the fans are happy.”

“The board are being supportive, but I know that faith won’t last forever.”