John Ward - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 20 March 2008 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United boss John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton on Tuesday evening as he talked about a busy Easter period coming up for the Blues, Ward though first chatting about the 2-2 draw at Swindon last Saturday :


" I was really pleased with Swindon, we looked at it in hindsight and we were under the cosh quite a bit in the game. Swindon played exceptionally well, the Swindon management were telling me after the game that they feel that that is the best they have played all season. So for us to come through that without a loss, and then you look at the other results on the Saturday afternoon, it has got be a really pleasing afternoon in that sense. Because we found it very difficult to contain them but we did, and not only that but we managed to find two goals at the other end. So despite it not being one of the best it turned out to be a good point.

" I don't mind being in the chasing pack as it were, I think if Swansea win tonight then it does obviously ease the pressure on them with the games getting fewer and fewer. That's three losses that they have got to have and we've got to have three more wins than them, when I say that that seems unlikely it is still possible. If they were to lose that game tonight though then they have still got the prospect of coming up to Brunton Park, and we could get close on a full house for that type of thing.

" So who knows, we're not closing the door on anything at all, it's just important that we try to preserve our continuity with our performances, and the results obviously lately have been good. So if we can do that we'll just see how high we finish, I keep talking to everybody about the play-offs which is absolutely right. We want to try to achieve that, we are very close to doing that but if anything else comes beyond that we'll be delighted obviously.

" I've not even talked about the number of games, I just think that we are looking at this weekend initially. I think it would be wrong to look ahead of that, six points over this weekend for anybody in the league would be fantastic, four points would be good, no points would not be a disaster but it would make things a little bit more open. We've obviously got to get our heads right, keep our nerve, we've got two teams who will be talking about winning those games against us and getting into the play-offs. So tough fixtures all round, so I don't want to get any further ahead than that, it's a big weekend and we've got to try to make the best of it. "



" I'm not in favour of two games over Easter because at this time of the year people like ourselves are fitting in games that have been postponed earlier. I think it's not quite right to be throwing in Saturdays and Mondays, I notice that the big boys are not doing that, they've just got the one fixture over this period. It's interesting that they have got that dispensation and we've got a packed programme basically, at this stage of the year with that type of fixture list that we've got in front of us.

" Two games in three days is a lot, plus from our point of view we have got a heck of a travelling distance to make up going down to Leyton Orient and back ready for the Monday game. We are keeping everybody in Carlisle on Saturday night when we arrive back and again on Sunday night ready for the game. We've thought long and hard about that, we've obviously got some boys that travel around a little bit.

" I think that there is enough travelling in getting to Leyton Orient and back and if we all stick together around Carlisle I think that is very important. So we will be in training on Sunday which will be more-or-less a head count and a loosener checking out who is OK and who is not and getting the team prepared for Monday. There is very little time that we have got between the matches but it is very important that we use it well.

" We have sorted our away form at the moment, I don't think that there is any anxiety about the team now, where there probably was prior to that. The Crewe result though, or the Port Vale one maybe even, settled that down and then obviously winning at Forest gave everybody a massive lift. So we know that we can do it away from home, and even though Saturday wasn't one of our best performances we stuck at it very strongly. "



" It was a very resolute thorough performance, particularly in the defending area got us a point. So whatever the game is, whether it's getting praise for playing very well at Nottingham Forest or you've got to really dig in as we did at Swindon, we now know that we are capable of doing that away from Carlisle.

" We are OK on any more injury concerns this week, and we've got Scott Dobie back from his illness which is terrific. He's had two days training this week where he has been really strong, he's been superb, we've built him up really slowly and very purposefully. He's coming in tomorrow, he wants to do a bit more work, I've kept him out of the reserve team, but we are going to get him back and hopefully in a shirt this weekend which will be good news.

" We're looking on loans and I am making enquiries about the possibility of just strengthening up the squad, so we'll see, but there is nothing imminent. I think most clubs will look to add someone before next Thursday but I think that the problem they have got is the same as people ask me. You want to keep your squad together because it is a very vital time of the season, and a player going out now certainly can't come back for the first month. So it's not an easy one to get people in, and I understand the reasons why.

" I don't think that it's right for me to start disclosing what position, the team of late has been playing very well. The team and the squad itself is very strong, providing that we don't get things that we can't legislate for. Jeff (Smith) and Joe (Garner) particularly are injuries that we couldn't avoid, they are contact type injuries and long ones. So I don't know what is going to happen in the next five or six weeks, so it is really trying to cover for what may happen rather than what we have got at the moment. I think the squad is OK now but what if we lose two on Saturday for instance, it's something I can't really cater for just at the moment.

" I can't say anything about players moving out until somebody comes and does something and asks me, but at the moment it's pretty quiet. Things are happening on contracts, we're talking to people all the time, it's an ongoing process, they are not things that you can get done in a day or two. So those things are going on as well as everything else that is happening at the club. It's a very busy time as you can imagine, we are trying to very much focus on the matches but there is other business that needs to be attended to, and we are hopefully trying to get those done. "