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" First impressions on the new players are that they are young, they are hungry, they are the right age, they are from a good pedigree if you like from Newcastle and from Blackburn and we need to work with them. We need to work with them and we need to try and find some players from somewhere at the right sort of age that we can develop and get into our first-team, the first signs are very promising though.
" We haven't really intentionally gone for the youth side, what you expect and what you want and what you can get are all different and complicated scenarios. We know what we need and it's availability, it's cost, it's finance, it's getting them here and persuading them, it's a lot of different things. I think everybody knows, Neil (McDonald) and myself know that we could do with some experience but along the way it would be nice to bring in a young untried hungry animal that comes in and surprises a few people.
" We know what we want and we're still looking, it's an ongoing process as Neil and I have said before. We're always looking for experience, we're always looking for better players to bring to the club and it's not just proving as easy as what it might be. It's not for the want of trying though I can assure you.
" With Blackburn being one of the nearest reserve teams, they play at Morecambe, the gaffer and myself have been there six or seven times this season and he (Joe Garner) has scored goals. He's shown appetite, he's shown a willingness to terrorise defenders, and I mean that, he terrorises defenders, he's only 5'9 but he's hungry and he's aggressive and he's got a great eye for the goal. Somewhere along the line we've got to bring one in, we've got to bring one in that is going to come from nowhere and hopefully score goals for us and make us a few quid along the way. Or push us nearer to what our aim is, which is further up the table. "
" I think we've got to keep that enthusiasm going and we've got to keep that optimism going. We're happy but we can be happier, we're not sad but we could be a bit better. We set massive aims for ourselves, we have chats – the manager and myself – and obviously if the fans knew what we were thinking then they'd be ecstatic but it doesn't always go the way you are thinking.
" We know there is a lot of hard work to do to get to our goal but we need the fans, 90% of them have been fantastic, a few have had grumbles which happens everywhere and we accept that. When we get beat we have grumbles so we are only like fans the gaffer and myself. We have the job of putting the thing right though, the players are receptive, we've had a fantastic weeks training again. They have been brilliant again this morning and we just need them to perform like we know they can. Then all the fans will go home happy and the manager and myself will go home happy as well.
" The away form puts extra pressure on us at home, there is no getting away from it. We need to nick more points away from home. That's where your experience might come in, that's where your signings might come in. That's an ongoing process but if we don't get results away from home then we have to win at home, tomorrow if we want to get to where we want to be this season we have to win. Otherwise it rocks us back on the back-foot and then you have to put very, very good runs together.
" At the minute a good run would see us right up there but if we lose too many more in the next few then it will have to be a very good run. We know what there is to do, we're not stupid, we're well aware of the task away from here and then obviously the pressure it puts on us at home. The good thing is though that we have responded to that, every single time we have responded to that and hopefully with the crowd's backing tomorrow that will happen again. "