After two goals in either half from DJ Pedro against AFC Liverpool this afternoon, Tim Lees reflected on the game.
“A turbulent week, turbulent few days with everything that’s gone on. Our job as staff and as players is just to focus on the pitch and that started on Thursday with us, so there was no talk of anything outside of the club. It was purely football, how we’re going to get better, how we’re going to keep improving and I thought the lads were excellent, particularly first half. We’ve been working a lot on the defensive side, so how we press the game, how we’re organised and that’s one goal we conceded now in five games in a league, so another clean sheet, another 2-0, really pleased with it.”
Tim then further expanded on how important getting clean sheets and praised goalkeeper Mitch Allen for it.
Tim Lees: “Mitch is outstanding. We’ve known for a while that, in our opinion, Mitch is probably the best keeper, certainly in this league and the league above as well. Yeah, it’s come from the lads’ hard work on the training pitch and when we get more time on the training pitch, we’ll get better. So, when we can get down to one game a week, which we’re not far off now, I think that’s when you really see the best of this group. Collectively, individually, there’s so much improvement. The average age is just over 23 in the squad.”
Further adding “I think last time we looked we had 10 out of the 20 who were 23 or under. So that shows to us how much this group can improve once we can get the time of them. Recently we’ve started getting some sessions in where we can really work on that defensive side. We know how much quality we’ve got in possession and the patterns in which we work. We’ve got the ultimate belief with the ball that we can take teams apart. But I think to win a league, you’ve got to be able to keep consistent, clean sheets. So that’s what we’ve been focusing on recently. I think it’s not just the backline for us, it’s how the front four press, how are the areas where they shell them. It’s the understanding of the two pivots in front, what they do, and then obviously it’s the box defending with the backline. So, it’s the whole team. I think defensively we’ve seen a massive improvement in the last four or five games. I’m pretty sure it’s four out of five games now, kept a clean sheet and conceded one goal in that time. So, the group are really improving and that’s the area we needed to get better. We’re going to really push and win this league.”
Tim then spoke about today’s starting eleven with Ruben Jerome returning to the side from injury and Connor Pye playing slightly further forward.
“I think because we’ve got depth in the squad, a part of the recruitment was we wanted lads who could play in different positions and could fill in and you wouldn’t have a drop in terms of the quality. That’s the biggest thing we learned from the league last year. We’ve got lads who can contribute in different areas. We’ve got a certain way of playing that the idea is they can play in these different areas, and they know exactly what’s required from them. Connor did great play further forward. He’s done that before when he was younger as well. In terms of Ruben, he’s been pushing. He’s had an injury that we didn’t want to push too early. The last time he played 90 minutes was the Radcliffe game, which feels like so long ago now. Great to have him back.”
Tim then spoke on DJ Pedro performance after the striker scored another 2 goals to extend his scoring run to 4 in 4 games.
“I think you can see in him the raw attributes he’s got, which is the work rate, the desire, the tracking back. That’s what you can’t really teach people when he’s got it in abundance. His athleticism, his change of direction, his power. It’d be horrible to play against for opposition. His performances have been excellent since he’s come in. He holds the ball up for us well. He makes forward runs. He adds what we call verticality to the game. When he was playing the 10 today, everything’s not to feet. He runs off, and he runs off Ruben. Really pleased that he’s getting the goals. He’s scored in every game he’s played. He’s technical, and we’re hoping with the time we have, we can do that, when I say technical, in terms of his clean striking and his finishing. He’s another one that when we get down to two sessions a week, he’ll really kick on.”
Tim than spoke on Tuesday’s game against Charnock Richard.
Tim Lees: “I think it’ll be a different game. I think when it was 11 v 11, before the sending off, it was a good game, it was close. I think we were starting to get control of it, but their physical side, we know them very well. They caused us problems last year. You know when you play Charnock exactly what you’re going to get. One of the toughest games that you’ll have, I think, Charnock. But the idea from our point of view, even though we’ve not got a session in between, is more of what we’re doing. We’re playing really, really well with the ball.”
Further adding “I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be Tuesday, but I think with the chances that we’re having, in terms of the number, there’s going to be a team that we’re going to put several goals past in one game at some point soon. So yeah, we’re going to have to be tight defence. We’ve got to have the same organisation against Charnock and yeah, we’re going to every game. At the moment, we’re confident in every single game.”
Tim than finished the interview praising the fans for their continued support.
“Yeah, they’re the best. When you come to Bury, they’re the first thing that you sell to every player when you’re trying to recruit them. It’s the fans. They’re unbelievable. They come out every single week. Like we always say, the away games feel like home games. I think in terms of the stuff that’s going off off the field at the minute, it’s so important that they stick together and that everybody’s positive. I think obviously our job on the field is to make sure we give them something to be positive about.”
