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JP
You mentioned that Paul Thirlwell was getting closer to training and was even back in the training, almost maybe wanting a place in the squad ahead of the Everton game. Is he going to be what you look at with missing Adam Clayton at least for this two week period while he is assessed.
GA
Yeah, well we have got options in that area haven't we. The weather at the minute is holding Thir back and it is holding Richard Offiong back and it is holding little Bridgey (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson) back as well because we can't get, and Joe Anyinsah as well. They have not really been able to get the type of intensity in their training we would have liked because we have no grass.
But those four need training facilities and need pushing on now because they have got over their injuries that they have had. We need to do that as quickly as possible but we have got little Bridgey in that area, we have got Paul Thirlwell, we have got Peter Murphy, we can play with just two midfield players. There are a lot of different options open to us at the moment and we are hopeful that we can cover Adam's loss without too much problem.
JP
What is the situation as far as you know it ahead of Saturday? It looks pretty bleak for the Millwall game.
GA
Well we have to prepare as if the game is going to be on, that is all we can do. But at the minute looking outside it doesn't look great does it, so we are in the lap of nature with that, but we just have to prepare as if the game is going to be on.
JP
You played very well, you looked like a team who had not been off when you played Everton, against Tranmere there was just a bit of that rustiness in there. Does that creep in again straight away if you have such another long break off. Is there some way that you can legislate for that?
GA
No, because I actually disagree with you, I thought that the two games were totally different types of games. The way Tranmere play and the way Everton play, it was never going to be the neat and tidy game at Tranmere that it was at Everton.
Nothing to do with being rusty, if we had been rusty we would have got beat, we stood up to the type of football Tranmere threw at us which was totally different to what Everton had on offer. We don't want to miss any more training because we need to keep going but I wouldn't have thought that we looked too rusty at Tranmere. I just thought it was a different type of football game.
JP
You have missed a number of games now though. Looking at trying to catch up on those you would push yourself up into that top half of the table, you were in a good position. It was great for the fans but it must have been good for the players to be looking down on that bottom half of the table. Psychologically because that has dropped you back in is that something that the players have to get over do you think?
GA
Well I don't think they will be too upset, if we play the three games that we have got in hand and we lose them all then we would be worried. But while they are there and we are still in a relatively decent position, we are still looking forward at the minute, the players are still looking forward, the players still believe they can win those games Which I think is a real positive from their side.
JP
And do they have to be the springboard from that Everton game for at least the next few games, can you roll on the crest of that if you can get the games in?
GA
I don't think it is rolling on the crest of the Everton game, I think it is rolling on the crest of the last 14 or 15 games. We are in a really good run of form and I don't think one game should give us any more confidence than the rest of the other games. We have been proving for the last large amount of games that we are improving and we are getting better. So we have just got to continue the type of football we are playing and the type of form we are in at the minute.
JP
If it is called off and you have got a long wait to that trip down to the capital the week after, what will you do during that period?
GA
We don't know, it is a good question, because at the minute I can't get on any grass because there is a lot of snow around and when the snow goes the ground is going to be frozen. So it would be nice to find some grass somewhere else but I think the whole of England is going to take its fair share of weather. So I think we will all be in the same boat, we will be twiddling our thumbs and possibly Saturday and Sunday doing nothing, but we will have to wait and see what happens.
JP
If it does get called off early, let's say Thursday, is there any chance that the club could go away somewhere in that period to try to get some training time on some grass that is not frozen.
GA
Probably not, I think at the minute everywhere is going to be the same. They are expecting snow from Yorkshire to the Midlands area today and then later on in the week even London and the South is going to get it. So at some point everybody is going to be disrupted.
JP
Leeds drawing Tottenham away four calendar days after they play you in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy first leg down there, does that come into their thinking do you think? Do you think that they maybe have an eye on the weekend, a few players not wanting to get injured, do you think that could play into your favour?
GA
It may do but if you look at the Leeds squad, they have got about 32 players that could all walk into most League One squads. So they could probably put two teams out that would give everybody a game, so it may be a bearing on some of the players but they will still have enough players to put out a strong squad, I am sure about that.
JP
How impressive is it to go and do that when you are a League One side?
GA
Absolutely awesome, I think we came close to causing an upset at Everton and Everton aren't Manchester United, Manchester United are probably the top model. For a side like Leeds United to go there and get a result is phenomenal, it just shows that on a one off occasion things like that can happen in football. It will have given them a big impetus as well so we will have another tough game to go to at Elland Road I am sure.
JP
You making any New Year's resolutions as a manager or as a bloke?
GA
No, I am quite happy with what I am doing right at the minute and I am quite happy with what I am doing wrong, and I am not going to change either, so let's continue.
JP
The chairman (Andrew Jenkins) has not forced you into anything about your weight though has he?
GA
No, the chairman is trying, he keeps trying to blow me up with a pump but I am not so sure that the mirrors are working in his house at the minute. So that is OK, I have got four jumpers on at the minute and I am still slimmer than you.
JP
And just finally, what are your hopes then for 2010?
GA
To keep the excitement going, to keep the improvement going and try to make sure the second half is exciting, I don't want the season to peter out. I just think we have enough quality in the squad and around the football club at the moment to try to get on the heels of the leading pack and keep the season with an edge to it and make sure all the games are exciting.