Bury won 2-0 over Pilkington as they continue their push towards the NWCFL title, Manager Dave McNabb spoke to the club to give us his thoughts on the game.
Dave McNabb: “I thought the first half was horrendous, if I’m being honest. No patterns of play, we looked nervous, we looked like we didn’t want to get on the ball and be brave with it. That being said, we missed three edge chances, we hit the bar with a bit of a lucky overhead kick from Bobby [Carroll]. We could have been 3-0 up, but we wouldn’t have deserved it. I think we’ve got to be better in terms of the way we impose ourselves, we’ve got to start the game a little bit quicker. Second half, they took everything on board, it wasn’t brilliant and scintillating football by any stretch, but the intensity went up a couple of levels. The press, the ugly stuff of the game, running, competing, winning first and second balls was much better. Sometimes that’s all it takes, sometimes you can’t play brilliantly well, especially at this point in the season. So, yes, really pleased to get the three points and we go again next week.”
Next Dave spoke about changes to todays starting 11 with Nicky Adams replacing Josh Gregory as well as Louis Jeanne absence with him saying “Josh hasn’t been too well, just a few little, tiny issues, nothing major. I think if we really needed to push him, if we didn’t have different options, then he could have started today, which is why he was on the bench. I just felt he’s played an awful lot of football, he’s come in on the back of a couple of long-term injuries and he’s played an awful lot of football, so we didn’t want to risk him getting injured and being missing for two or three weeks. He’s been a massive part of what we’ve achieved over the last few weeks, so that was that. In terms of the bench, obviously with having Josh on the bench, being able to play both centre-half and midfield, I just felt, depending on how the game panned out, we might need Connor. That was just being a little bit more attacking in terms of options on the bench.”
Dave then spoke about the aims for the rest of the season as we entered the final 5 games of the season, he said “I don’t think any of them were easy, I don’t think there were any games that were easy. We know that Bury is a scalp to any team, so teams step up when it’s difficult. No-one’s going to lie and say that they don’t check on the results, of course you do, but at the end of the day, it’s in our hands, so we put ourselves in the best place possible. We’ve been on an unbelievable run, one game at a time, just keep picking up three points. That’s all we can do, and the sole focus now is Squires Gate at home next week.”
He then spoke about today’s goal scorers Rustam Stepans and Lewis Byrne with him saying “Yes, I think they probably both needed a goal. I think they probably judged themselves a little bit more on scoring goals, and they’ve probably been a little bit disappointed over the last few weeks that they haven’t got more each. But from my point of view, obviously records or goals is always something that you look at, but I think it’s more about the contribution that people make when they’re on the pitch, and both of them have been fantastic since they’ve been here. Rusty’s played 51 games, the stats are unbelievable, and I’m sure he’ll say he should have scored a few more. If he’d been really critical, he should have done. But what a contribution he’s made this season; he’s been absolutely outstanding. So, yes, good for them to both get on the score sheet. Could’ve done with a DJ [Pedro] one, he’s missed a chance there. But look, we get the three points, 2-0 win, it’s as you were, so we go again next week.”
Dave then looked ahead to the match against Squires gate next week at Gigg Lane “Obviously, they’re fighting for their lives, so every point matters for them. It’s not going to be one of those end-of-season games that you see sometimes where a team’s got nothing to play for and they’ve already got the flip-flops on and the half on the beach. It’s not going to be that, they’re fighting for their lives. Luke’s an exceptional coach, he’s a really, really good coach. He’ll have them very organised, and I’m sure it’ll be tough for us to break them down. We’ve been really good at Gigg, we’ve played some great football there. This week, we’ve got to prep and be ready for it, and play against another tough team, and we go again.”