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" The away form is only a millstone for as long as it lasts I think. We've got the opportunity, although I said this before Oldham mind you, we've got the opportunity tomorrow to put that right. We've worked very hard this week, we've had some good weather in Cumbria and we've been able to get out on the training ground and really get at people and get into the team.
" I want that response tomorrow as everyone does, the players themselves want that, they still live with that nightmare of Oldham Athletic. We put some of it right with the Walsall victory on Saturday but people quite rightly will mention the situation away from home and we've got to stop that, and tomorrow we are very determined to do that.
" We won't be approaching tomorrow's game any differently, we are on our way down to the Midlands now to get ready and prepare for the game, and make sure that the boys have got the journey out of the way. We'll be out for a walk in the morning, we'll be talking about the Port Vale team together as a squad but we certainly want the approach to the game that we had at Cheltenham rather than the Oldham one.
" We went down very meekly at Oldham as people saw but at least we went fighting into Cheltenham and we've got to reproduce that kind of attitude and approach to the game in terms of tomorrow. Because it's not easy, they are fighting for points at the bottom of the division and not long ago they were 2-0 up after 45 minutes at Brunton Park. So we know that there is a tough task ahead but we have got to have the approach correct.
" We went into Oldham with a five man midfield and I abandoned that at half-time, that didn't work and that wasn't right. So we are happiest when we are playing our shape and what suits us and where we are getting forward, and that's what we have been concentrating on this week. We very much want to take the game forward into Port Vale rather than wait for them to come at us. "
" I think the squad itself is stronger with the new additions into the group. Grant Smith has had two games now where he had missed a little bit of football, we seem to just forget about him coming into the group. Those four guys (Smith, Evan Horwood, Scott Dobie and Cleveland Taylor) have certainly strengthened the seniority of the squad.
" They are getting fitter and getting stronger the longer they are with us and that has only got to be good for the remaining games of the season. There is a heck of a lot of football in a short space of time now and it is very important that we keep people fit and strong and that we use them in the right way. He (Grant Smith) is up for first-team contention now because he has played his second game now at reserve team level, he has done his full 90 minutes.
" He was similar to Scott and Cleveland that he hadn't had his full 90 minutes too many times in the last four or five weeks. That is the difference, training is fine but I can't reproduce 90 minutes of league football even in training. So they have to get that somewhere and he has got that now. Scott has had a full week of it as you have seen and Cleveland has had his hour although he probably needs a little bit more but we are getting there with these guys.
" He (Paul Thirlwell) is on the trip, let's put it that way, I think that it is a bit early to include him in it with a shirt. It is very important though for me that I have got him on the coach tonight because he is the club captain, he is an influential person around the football club. Just to have his presence around the team tomorrow could be important but Paul won't stand for that for too long. We've got another midweek reserve game on Wednesday if he doesn't make the Tuesday game so he'll certainly be pushing after that I believe.
" I'm happy with the squad and with everybody fit and available for me we are pretty content just now. I'm still looking at the defensive options because we tried to sign (Richard) Keogh, I don't think that will happen in the loan transfer window now but I think that it is an area we need to look at. Because of all the areas we are probably a little bit bare then it's that one, but when everybody is fit we can cover those areas up pretty well, and at the moment I have got everybody fit. "
" Looking at Richard in the summer is a long way ahead yet, and it depends where we are and the position our football club is in and where Richard is. It is something that we would consider though, Gary Johnson has made it pretty clear that he wouldn't loan him out to us either. So it would have to wait until the summer before we could move for Richard if that was going to be the case.
" He (Paul Reid) is not a person I have spoken to the newspaper people about, he is someone that I am aware of and that's all that I've said. I wouldn't be doing my job as a football manager if I wasn't aware of Paul. I could throw six or seven other central defenders' names at you and it's really just fodder for journalism, but it doesn't mean it is going happen. He is a player that I am aware of and I know his background with Carlisle United but at the moment I have made no move in any areas for those sorts of players and Paul is one of them, I haven't gone for him at all.
" David Raven is still an option at centre-half and that's where Paul Arnison becomes important, Paul came and played at full-back last week and did pretty well for us, and David had to just sit out that game. Those two guys are with us this weekend and certainly if that needs to be the case, if we need to change it through poor form or injury or whatever then Raven certainly comes into consideration for that because he did do very well.
" With everybody fit and well, I have taken a 20-man squad with me which is quite heavy but I've done that in terms of all the games coming up. We have got a heck of a large number of games coming up in the next few weeks and I want to keep this squad together as long as possible. So that anybody that needs to come in either Tuesday or next Saturday or whatever at short notice then they will know exactly what is going on and what is required.
" I find it quite amazing in Sir Alex Ferguson's comments that he wasn't even considered or discussed about playing games abroad. When these big boys are talking about playing too much football, Champions League football, International football, which the top boys are all involved in. I find it amazing that they want to add an extra game, and not only that but take it to the other side of the world. There is heck of a lot of football going, for me I think that it's money orientated and I'm not sure that is the right for the game itself. "