Crawley Town travel to Northampton Town for their latest League One trip on Saturday. Here Rob Elliot looks ahead to game, looks back at the Lincoln City win and addresses the goalkeeper situation
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00:00Hi Rob, we're looking forward to a trip to Northampton. I assume there are squads in
00:05quite a buoyant mood after Tuesday night?
00:07Yeah, they are. A few battered and bruised bodies but I think that's probably why we
00:14got the three points. People put their bodies on the line and sacrificed a lot for the team
00:18so we obviously was in today just making sure we're looking after the bodies, getting a
00:22little bit of prep ready for Saturday. So obviously it's always better preparing for
00:27a game when you've had three points and the message to the boys was understand why we
00:30got those three points and make sure we carry that one into Saturday. I think the lads are
00:37an absolute credit to themselves in terms of the way they battled, the way they fought
00:40and how ruthless they were when they got the opportunities to score.
00:43What was it that pleased you most about Tuesday night's win?
00:45I think it's just the character of the team to be honest with you and the intensity that
00:48we played with and the fact that probably what Lincoln brought, because they're a very
00:52very good team, what Lincoln's strengths were is probably the things that we maybe in previous
00:57games were things we struggled with. So for the character to stand up to it, to be able
01:03to negate it and then obviously then be able to punish them the other way was fantastic
01:07so and to do it against such a strong team is obviously even more rewarding but it's
01:13gone now, there's another game Saturday, like you said, not get too high, not get too low
01:18but we've got to take the positives and we've got to keep building on them and obviously
01:23I thought everyone was excellent, there was a few standout performers as well which I'm
01:28hoping with this young squad we start producing more and more leaders within the group. There
01:35is some there but I think there's more to come and I think that we want to get to that
01:38point where everyone on the pitch is leading each other.
01:40Yeah and talking of leaders, Jay Williams, I thought particularly second half he was
01:44outstanding on Tuesday night. How impressed have you been with him and what does he bring
01:48to the side on and off the pitch?
01:51I thought Jay was exceptional. I think his leadership skills in terms of the example
01:58he sets and the intensity he does things with since I've been in have been fantastic. He's
02:05someone that is an intense character but he's intense because he wants to get better every
02:09day and he wants everyone, what he does and what he did on Tuesday was he galvanised everyone
02:14around him. He organised and he got people together and he made people fight for each
02:18other. Not that we didn't before but I think his voice and his presence at the back there
02:21for us gave us a bit of an edge and I think he loved the responsibility. He loved the
02:26battle. He's a whole-hearted character. He enjoyed the battle but I think where Jay has
02:31developed and what we've talked about is that controlled aggression that he's got and making
02:36sure that he's always got that clear head because he obviously didn't just battle and
02:40fight he also made some brilliant decisions in terms of organising and on the ball. I
02:45think that's real leadership and that's why at the moment he's obviously the captain or
02:50one of the captains but it's important that we all step forward like Jay's performance
02:56and there's others in there as well that were outstanding and I think that what we want
03:01to do as a group is continue that togetherness and hard work because it's going to be a tough
03:06season regardless of where you are in the league. This league is a tough league every
03:08week and I just want to see the characters develop and the people because we know, we've
03:13seen what fantastic footballers they are and we just want to keep developing everything
03:17we can about them.
03:18Looking at the goalkeeper situation, obviously you haven't named a reserve keeper in the
03:22last couple of matchday squads, what is the situation? Is it concerning because obviously
03:25while Jojo's fit it's fine but is it a concern for you and are you working on bringing someone
03:30in if you can?
03:31Yeah, it's probably a bit of everything really. Jasper who's been brilliant since I've come
03:36in, he's new in training so obviously we only had Jojo and obviously when Jojo was away
03:42it was a similar situation in that Jasper doesn't meet the requirements of playing the
03:46five games so you're able to bring a senior player in and I did say that to Jasper, I
03:50said it wouldn't be fair on me to put you in an environment that you haven't been prepped
03:54for in terms of playing the games to get to that point because we want Jasper to get in
03:58the first team when he's had the opportunity to learn and develop and be able to get an
04:03opportunity to stay in there. Obviously Jojo's another one who was exceptional the other
04:06night. The ongoing situation with the goalkeepers is that Eddie's obviously had a serious injury,
04:12Ryan's had a serious injury and Jasper's obviously had a knock at the moment. You'd be surprised
04:19by how many teams don't go with a goalkeeper on the bench outside the Premier League Championship
04:22because of how the squads work, same with Northampton on Tuesday. Charlie Barker keeps
04:30telling me he's very good in goal. Let's hope he doesn't come to that but unfortunately
04:36you get two serious injuries to two goalkeepers. These things unfortunately happen and hopefully
04:42that will get resolved. Hopefully Eddie's back doing his rehab so he'll be back with
04:46us in a couple of weeks or a few weeks shall I say depending on how it goes. Jasper's starting
04:50to come back into training so we'll just have to see if and when he's available.
04:55You mentioned Charlie then, I didn't have a question about him but again he was outstanding,
04:58you don't want him going in goal do you because you don't want to miss him off playing in
05:01defence because I thought he was superb again on Tuesday night.
05:04You talk about character and leaders, Charlie's exactly that. He's someone I've liked for
05:07a long time. Obviously I always keep an eye on lads from Chorlton because that was my
05:11background and I know people spoke really highly of him. I think even when he left I
05:15think it was slightly surprising. I think that what he's shown over the last few games
05:21is no matter what situation you're in, Charlie will give you absolutely everything. He's
05:26a talented lad as well and he's had a couple of tough times on Saturday but he never stops
05:32turning up, he never stops doing the right thing, same as Toby. I think when you've got
05:35that you know that the lad's quality will come through and the best thing with Charlie
05:39with his age, he's going to learn, he's going to get better and better. He's someone that's
05:43going to be really important for us on and off the pitch. He's a real joy to be around
05:48and he sets good standards and that's exactly what we want. We want the standards to be
05:52as high as possible at this club.
05:54You mentioned battered and bruised bodies and Armando we saw him go off, he looked a
05:58little bit concerning. Is there any update on this?
06:00Yes, unfortunately he's got a hamstring injury so we'll have to assess it and see what comes
06:05back. He'll probably be out for a few weeks, hopefully not too many, hopefully getting
06:09back after the international break. But yes, again Armando, I can't find a way of saying
06:15that to you obviously. He's infectious, he's been a bright spark so far so it'll be a loss
06:22for us but a real strength in the squad and a real belief in the squad so we'll just have
06:31to adapt to it. We'll get June's back as quick as we can but like you say, we've got a lot
06:37of good options, a lot of attacking players, a lot of people that maybe haven't had the
06:41opportunity so we'll see where that brings.
06:46Your three away games so far have all been relatively close ones, including Northampton
06:50on Saturday. Can you just talk us through the process of how that match day works? Do
06:54you all travel together and then go to somewhere and have meetings and that or is it just one
06:58day out of interest?
06:58Yes, it depends on where you travel on the day because it's so close but with Northampton
07:03being the other side of the M25 and being a good few hours away, they know the club
07:06are good, they will leave from the training ground, we'll train closer to Northampton,
07:11we'll go for our normal match day, minus one and then we'll be to the hotel where it's
07:15good because the players get to rest, especially after such a tough week and then we get to
07:19do multiple meetings in terms of what we're expecting and it probably gives you more time
07:23actually on the away games so it's time for the lads to decompress, to recover and get
07:29prepped and it's also a good time to spend with the squad and the players to be able
07:32to get the information in.
07:33So yes, I think players tend to enjoy the away games, they get a nice bed, they get
07:38a bit of rest and a bit of recovery and you get to spend some time together which is good
07:41and especially with us just coming in, we genuinely do enjoy spending time with this
07:44group, they're a good bunch of lads and I think obviously the more time we spend together
07:50the more we get to know each other's personalities and stuff, the more beneficial that will be.
07:54Brilliant, thanks.
07:55Alex, how's the squad feeling after your big win on Tuesday and how's your preparation
08:05been for the game on the weekend?
08:08Yeah it's good, obviously nothing's better than winning in football and that's why we're
08:11in it and I think it was the manner in which we won was so pleasing to show that fight
08:19and belief in each other to get through the hard times, dealing with the balls in the
08:23box, the crosses and then obviously to score three really good goals, I think it's given
08:28the lads lots of confidence and then now obviously Wednesday they've got a well-earned day off
08:32to go and recover and then they're in today for sort of a second day recovery slash training
08:36session so we help the lads who need more training minutes, they'll get the minutes
08:39and the first team lads who play the majority of the minutes will get a little bit of tactical
08:44stuff and a meeting and then they'll get the recovery just to be ready for Saturday because
08:48like you say, this league's relentless so this is finishing off a tough period for us
08:52again, another three games in seven days so we just need to do everything we can for the
08:56lads to be as ready to go, give everything for these 90 minutes and Saturday now we've
09:02got a nice week off in terms of no midweek game to be able to prep, recover and go again.
09:08After your win on Tuesday, are you approaching the game at the weekend any differently or
09:14is it just a normal game?
09:19Yes and no, so no not approaching it differently because we have to be consistent and we have
09:24to keep working on the things we want to improve and the things that we're trying to still
09:29install in the lads but yes because Northampton have different teams to link and they have
09:33different threats and different things that we need to be aware of so we'll always adapt
09:37to the opposition in terms of the messaging and how we think we can be effective or how
09:41we think they'll be effective and how we can negate that but ultimately one of my biggest
09:49principles in non-negotiables is that we always concentrate on ourselves, we always back ourselves
09:54to be better and to be able to adapt to whatever the opposition throw at us and we just try
10:00and with the reviews and the training sessions within that we try and give the lads as much
10:04insight into what they might see on Saturday but knowing that ultimately we want to back
10:08ourselves because if we keep improving we believe it will be absolutely fine and we'll
10:11be successful so we want to get the balance right between worrying about opposition and
10:17giving the lads as much information about that but also continuing the journey and the
10:21process and the coaching with the lads so that they keep improving and we can keep getting
10:26the results like we did Tuesday.
10:29Northampton are in and around the relegation zone, can you read into that at all?
10:38Not really, no I don't think so because we're there as well and we feel that we want to
10:44get further up the league and obviously Northampton, we watched the game against Stockport and
10:49Leighton Orient and they were very good to be honest, they're a good team, really organised,
10:53got some really good individuals. Northampton are tricky in the fact that they have good
10:58play-out patterns and they can build from the back but they can also be direct, they've
11:01got some good powerful strikers, they've got a lot of pace and energy in the team and they've
11:07got that bit of experience from last year at this level where they did well so I think
11:10we know it's going to be a tough game. I think the thing that you're probably hearing consistently
11:15and it might sound a bit repetitive but it's probably the strongest league one's ever been
11:18and I think every game is a tough game, there's no poor teams in this league, every team's
11:24very competitive, every team's got good individuals, every team's well organised so to get three
11:29points in this league it has to be earned and that's what we need to do now, we need
11:33to make sure we go into Saturday and give ourselves the best chance to win the game
11:37but also keep developing and keep getting better from Tuesday.