Danny has belief in his team
Danny Grainger hopes that his side has at least a ‘smidgen’ of the belief that he has in them, as Reds look to equal a 16-year record on Saturday.
The manager was speaking ahead of the trip to City of Liverpool after the team continued their perfect Northern Premier League start on Bank Holiday Monday.
Obviously, it wasn’t a pretty one.
Grainger said regarding the match against Pontefract Collieries.
The boys rolled their sleeves up, and they’ve done what they needed to do to get the win. I thought we fully merited the three points and there was only ever one team that was going to win the game.
Team spirit was evident throughout the game, something which pleased gaffer Grainger following a summer of trying to build a tight-knit group.
It was something we wanted to create when we first walked through the door. When you get a relegation, people are obviously going to be down in the dumps and players will be low on confidence.
We had to bring the right people into the squad, and the lads that we’ve kept have been a massive part of the way we’ve gone forward.
A new addition came into the squad at training last night, Matty Clarke from Bradford Park Avenue, and his new boss thinks playing for Reds will suit him down to a tee.
Matty’s a great player. I think he’s a player that’ll enjoy playing in this team, I think it’ll suit him down to a tee.
He’ll take a few weeks to get bedded-in to how we play, with the fitness levels and things like that and I’m really looking forward to what he can bring to the squad.
Moving onto the weekend, Grainger says his team won’t be looking at the record books but has full belief in his squad to make their own mark in Reds history, with the chance to win the opening four league games the first time since 2003.
The Bootle-based outfit have lost both of their away games but have won their only home game, so another victory would likely be a hard-earned one.
The main thing for us is that we keep doing what we’re doing. I’ve said to the boys, I hope they have even a smidgen of the belief that I have in them because they’ve been fantastic.
The record books are always good to be involved but we won’t be looking at that and how we approach Saturday against a good team.
Colne come to Borough Park next Tuesday for another quick turnaround, and the manager discussed how the group will go about preparing for the match.
We have a meeting before each game and a discussion about what the opposition is going to bring.
I’ve been quite lucky that I’ve been able to have a bit of information on each team. I thought the lads dealt with turnaround fantastically from last Saturday to Monday, and I fully expect them to do the same this weekend.
There’s a reason why I wanted a heavy squad, and have lads always fighting for shirts every single game. It showed at the weekend.
Ash Kelly, Sam Smith, and Jay Kelly have maybe not the had the game time that they’d have liked over the past few weeks but have been fantastic.
There’s been no sulking, whether they’ve been on the bench or anything, just making sure they’re ready for the Saturday or Tuesday is the main thing.
Kick-off tomorrow at the Berry Street Garage Stadium is 3pm.
