Notts County manager Shaun Derry spoke to his club's official website ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at Meadow Lane on Saturday afternoon, Derry knowing the bottom of the table Magpies have little breathing space in their battle to avoid relegation:
“As the games are coming thick and fast the results need to come thick and fast as well. We are fully aware of what this weekend is all about for many reasons, and we need three points. I just want to win on Saturday, I want to look at Saturday and I want us to get a win under our belt and I want us to build on it, that is what I want, just a win on Saturday.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on the guys in terms of giving them certain games that they must win and certain games that they are allowed to drop points in, because I think that puts a little bit of confusion into them. I have just said to them that for this Saturday alone, let’s win the game. We know where Carlisle are in the league as well, so it is a huge game for both teams.
“There was a massive plus side for us last week in that I thought the front four played really well. I have said to them all week to make sure they play well again this weekend, because in that form I don’t think many people can handle us. I thought Nathan Tyson was fantastic and we are looking forward to him being available again, and I think the front four have made a difference this year.
“I absolutely believe we can still stay up and that comes from within, the heart, the mind, the mentality. My mentality has always been strong and that is something that I have to make sure I ingrain that into the boys here. You can’t coach that, you have to try to teach that in different ways, but I am not even looking at relegation. This is an almighty task for us between now and the end of the season and I want us to win it.
“Winning breeds confidence and it doesn’t matter how you lose, you can lose good, bad or indifferent but you have still lost. When you look at the table and you have to drag yourself up for training on Monday morning having lost, then it is hard. But, I know that if we win then we will be buzzing in training on Monday and with a Tuesday night game as well then if we can back it up then it wouldn’t half change the mentality. So, now is the time to hit form, starting on Saturday."
“It is a big game for Greg Abbott as well, of course it is. The manner in which he left Carlisle disappointed him, he was disappointed in certain aspects of what happened up there. But, he has got a fantastic new challenge here at a great club so his sole focus is purely on us for Saturday and he will deal his emotions after the game.
“Saturday is about character and who holds their nerve. Greg knows Carlisle inside out, let’s not forget about that, so I will be guided definitely by him for this weekend in terms of him knowing what Carlisle possess. But, I know in their manager [Graham Kavanagh] what they have got up there, they have got a manager who is unbelievably focused and wants to do well for the football club.
“I have met him a few times and he is a great guy and I know that having worked with Greg in the past as well we have kind of got a connection there altogether. So, it will be strange down there on Saturday afternoon because the relationships will be there, but I don’t half want to beat him. If we can then back that win up then the mindset changes unbelievably quickly.
“That is the game of football that everybody is involved in, we will be in a better place and clubs around us will be thinking that we are a team in form, so that is what we have got to look at for the short term. So, it is just 90 minutes of absolute hard graft and determination with the quality I know we have got and we will win. I know that, if we can sustain it for 95 minutes then I know we will win the game, if we can’t then we will have problems.
“When you are down there at the bottom of the league there are errors in every goal, and we are there because we are constantly committing errors and shooting ourselves in the foot. If you didn’t know who was where in the league you would say that we were the better team last weekend but we shot ourselves in the foot and lost the game ultimately. That has been the case since I have been here and obviously times before.”