John Ward - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 05 March 2008 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United boss John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton on Tuesday evening, Ward looking back to the excellent 1-0 away win over Nottingham Forest on Monday night as well as talking about his striker options with Joe Garner out injured for the rest of the season :



" Today is a really good day, the night last night you were wrapped up in the occasion, the game and everything else. When you wake up this morning you can just sit back and look at it a bit colder and think that that has been a really good night's work. And a famous victory in a difficult situation, we would have gone a point behind Forest had they won the game, we've now gone five points away from them. It could all change tonight but at the moment we are very pleased with our present form and it's something that we've got to work hard to maintain.

" I think it was the best performance for me because it was pretty thorough, we had to change in obviously losing Joe Garner and not having Scott Dobie to select with as well. We've had to come up with a way to play and talk to the players and they've believed in it which is the big thing about it. We said that we think there is a way we can win the game, we weren't talking about doing anything other than winning the match.

" It's very important that the players believe in what you the coaches are doing and I think there was a real togetherness last night in how we set the team out and then how they went about it. We obviously can't do that without each other so it was a very pleasing evening.

" I never doubted they would be able to handle it mentally, and I'm not being clever or flippant about that at all. I've got to know them well enough since October, since I came in, that they can deal with occasions and they can deal with situations. It's just whether we are going to be good enough, and that still I think is how it is going to be over the next 12 to 13 games to finish the season off. "



" I think the games against the big clubs if you like stand out for themselves and I think they'll be fine for Saturday against Brighton and then against Luton. They are just as important if not more important because they are the next ones, I think the players, in terms of the occasion and the situation will be fine. It's just whether we can have the ability and maintain the level.

" He (Danny Graham) has shown great mental character because he has been questioned, when he went his lengthy spell without scoring for 15 or 16 games I think it was. I took him out of the side and put him back in the side and moved him around a little bit, and he worked exceptionally hard at his training ground work. I'm absolutely delighted, he's only 22 and you can forget that a little bit, it's still a very young player in his early years as a seasoned professional.

" He and Joe Garner at 22 and 19 were a fantastic young pair of strikers and now Danny has come into the fore and picked his form back up. It's amazing what one goal does you know, you just think that you are back again and off he goes and he has found his wee bit of form, and we hope he continues that obviously.

" The mood in the dressing-room was pretty quiet afterwards, it was strange really because of the two guys, I think it was Danny Graham and Keiren (Westwood) had been taken by the TV people. Then we had two other guys taken by the doping people who had come to check the drugs part I think for two of the players, so it was a pretty quiet dressing-room as we'd lost four of the players. We just said well done, we had to wait around for the other guys to come in so it wasn't as excitable as you would imagine but we were all extremely pleased with the work that we had done. "



" They (Scott Dobie and Joe Garner) wanted to be there, they wanted to come and there was no way I was going to say no of course. They were on the pitch with the boys enjoying the moment and that's again something we have tried to, I'm sure it was there before I came, and we've strengthened it immeasurably really. In saying that it's a squad thing, it's a club thing, it's about us and it's not about individuals, and we've maintained that throughout. Even the injured guys want to be there and be with this team so it's good.

" He (Gary Madine) was there for a reason obviously because I'm a bit short of strikers and we just felt that at the end you are a goal up, the impetus is with Nottingham Forest, they are pushing and chasing the game. Danny Graham had worked his legs off pretty much at the front, he'd ploughed his furrow for a long, long time and it was the right thing we felt at the time.

" Just to slow the game on and put a fresh face in there and Gary is a big boy, if we needed a header won which we did when we put him on at the end of the game then he can win that in our box as well. So it was a nice moment for him, he is a young man that has earned his opportunity, we think very highly of him and now he has got to work hard for his debut, his starting debut, he'll know what that's about.

" It is a relief to get two away wins in a row because you wonder if the consistency levels are going to be there. You've asked me for a long time why things are different to home and away and that's the only answer I can come up with. We're not as consistent away as we are at home and we've managed to find that. If you add the draw at Port Vale to that then it's been earned a little bit over the period of time, so we are really pleased with the way we have come through that and that should add to the confidence of everyone. "



" We don't think we have any more injuries at present, there are some tired bodies around as you can imagine. It was a magnificent effort from everybody concerned in a big game, we'll just recover the boys when we get them back. A few of the boys will play in the reserves tomorrow night, and we'll have a look at those over Thursday and Friday and we'll select accordingly for the weekend. The mind has got to be right for the weekend, there is no way we can dwell on Nottingham Forest, when Thursday morning arrives it's got to be looking forward and pushing on and I am sure that is going to be the case.

" We've got three weeks on the loan window I think before we have to look at that. So I'm not necessarily going to jump in there and say yes let's get this and let's do that. If we think the right situation arises for the right player coming in then I'm sure that we'll get the support from the board that we can do that and strengthen it a bit further. We certainly don't want any more injuries but at the moment the squad itself is playing well and it's going to be really difficult to bring a player in and put him in that team and that's what a loan player would want to do.

" We believe we can do well, nobody knows where we can finish as I keep saying to you. We just keep working hard to do our very best and see where it takes us. We've talked all season about top six, I think we are ten points clear of seventh place now. That's a really strong position to be in but we're competing with the top two positions and that's a pleasing position to be in at the moment.

" I really don't know how long we can sustain that, whether Doncaster can, whether other people can, we have just got to do our very best and at the moment the team and everyone in the football club is doing it. If we can maintain that then who knows, I'm not foolish enough to make predictions except that we'll do our best.

" It would be nice if Bristol Rovers could beat Doncaster tonight, I think they (Bristol) have only had one defeat in sixteen. They have hit some really good form, particularly in the FA Cup as well, so they are flying at the moment. If anybody can undo Doncaster then let's hope it's Bristol Rovers. "