|
PN
A pretty good week around the place I bet this week?
GA
Yeah, certainly better than it was after the game on Saturday. We needed the result, we needed some performances and we got one on Tuesday night and it has lifted everybody's spirits.
PN
Why have you been able to consistently get results at Elland Road when other teams have gone there and not been able to?
GA
I think we have got a pretty decent side, when we are right on form and everybody is having a right go and they are taking on board everything we tell them then we think we have got a pretty decent team. I think going to Leeds, and sometimes when you get so many results at one place, Leeds probably think that it is a tough game is Carlisle and they get something negative in their own minds.
But we certainly went with a nice game-plan and first half we thought we were very, very good and caused them a lot of problems. In the second half we got put on the back foot a little bit but we think we are OK when we can play like that and pass the ball quickly and close teams down when they have got it then we think we are alright.
PN
Where would you put Tuesday night's win in terms of your managerial career so far?
GA
Well it is nowhere until we get through the next round to be honest. It has given us a leg up for the second leg and if we can take the team to Wembley it will go down as one of my better achievements. But at the minute it stands for not too much, it just means that we have got a great chance of completing the job at home.
It will be a massive task again because I think Leeds, the way their people and the way their directors were after the game, they are very disappointed with what went on and they are desperate to get to Wembley as well. So if we can complete the job next month then it will go down as a really fantastic feat, but up to now it doesn't stand for much.
PN
Back to the league tomorrow, are you confident the players' focus will be fully focused on Stockport?
GA
There will be no question of that, we have played loads of games this season and generally the mindset has been right. We have played a lot of games in the Johnstone's Paint against teams below us and we have approached it in a really good manner and hopfully tomorrow then nothing will be different.
But they have made five new signings have Stockport and people make light of this run that they have had twelve defeats on the trot and we should just turn up and beat them. But they have got five new members in the side and we have got to make sure that our players don't get any negative thoughts that we have just got to turn up and play and win, because it won't be as easy as that I can assure you.
JP
How do you think the game will differ tomorrow from the game at Leeds on Tuesday which was quite an open game going in both directions?
GA
I think it can go a number of ways, you can never forecast how games are going to pan out. But I think if we can get an early goal the disappointment that Stockport will face will be double disappointment because they will think 'here we go again, another defeat coming.' But if we don't get an early goal and they frustrate us and they keep the game tight then they might get a bit of encouragement from that.
And we might get a little bit tense thinking that we should be winning this game and we are not, and it goes against you. But we have talked to the players about the importance of the focus and the attitude and the determination being right whichever team we play against. We can't tell them any more, it is up to them now, they have got the tough task of going out there tomorrow and making it all happen for us.
JP
Gary Madine is back with the club this week, what is the latest on his situation as it stands?
GA
At the minute he is back with us, there is nothing happening at the other end with Coventry so he is in the squad and available for tomorrow.
PN
Does Gary's situation have an affect on what you might or might not be able to do in the transfer window?
GA
Not really, not really, the key to it all is identifying the right players, we then go to the board and ask them if they can back up our judgements and we go from there. If it is a really expensive one and they think we need to do some juggling about then we do that. But it is not any situation with Gary or any other player, it is a matter of finding the right player at the right price. If we can afford to do something that is going to improve us then we do it.
PN
And in terms of what you may or may not be bringing in, is anything imminent at the moment?
GA
You keep pulling me on that one don't you, you keep pushing me on that one. At the minute no there isn't, again, we know where the side has got strengths and we know where the side has got weaknesses and we know where we need to improve things. If we can find that improvement then we will try to do something.
PN
You have allowed Michael Burns to go out on loan this week, what is the thinking about that?
GA
Well we have got numerous midfield players, I think we have got a really good strength in depth in the midfield area now. You have got (Marc) Bridge-Wilkinson coming back, you have got (Paul) Thirlwell coming back, you have got the likes of Kav (Graham Kavanagh) and Tom (Taiwo) and Adam (Clayton) already in the team. So we think we are fully equipped in that area to let Michael go and get some football, so that was the idea behind that.
PN
And are you happy for Michael to be playing at Blue Square North level?
GA
Well we would like him to play at a higher level but because he has not got much league experience then League One and League Two teams are reluctant to take them. So you have got to start your career somewhere and get some games, and that is the reason for that.
Obviously it would have been ideal for him to go to League Two, maybe Conference, a higher level to get some football. But because he has not played so many games it is difficult for managers just to assess them in reserve team football.
PN
And can you say at this stage as to whether there have been any other approaches for any more of your squad?
GA
No, we are fine at the minute and I keep switching my phone off so I am OK with that at the minute.
JP
Just thinking back to what you said on Gary Madine, is that deal dead in the water with Coventry at the moment then? Is that what you were saying or are you just saying it is not happening right now?
GA
Tomorrow he is a Carlisle United player and he is in our squad for the game, and that is all I am going to say.
JP
And having played in the Championship though, does he come into your thinking for the game though? Because obviously he has got some excellent experience there.
GA
Well he is in the squad, I can't tell you any more than that.
JP
What about injury-wise just finally? How are you looking ahead of tomorrow's game?
GA
We are OK, Lenny (Pidgeley) has got a bang on his hip which he carried through the second half at Leeds, so we will have a look at him tomorrow morning. But apart from that everybody wants to play, off the back of a good result you generally find people creeping out of the training room and trying to get on the training ground.
So we have got a lot of people wanting to play and the key for me is to make sure that I make the right selections and we get the right team out there to get a good result again to keep the whole momentum going.