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" I don't think that it is extra pressure now tomorrow, I think that there is always pressure on to try to win. We have talked about the last couple of games at great length as you can imagine, but the bottom line is that we are just trying to keep doing the same things that we have done in those two games and just try to do them that bit better. Because there are areas in there that we have just slipped up on in terms of the previous games where we have won matches and some of the mistakes get overlooked. Obviously when you lose though then you are answering different questions.
" We have done as much work as we can in training on that this week. We have had a great week weather-wise, we have been able to get on the training ground and do a lot more detailed work and talk to the boys. We have looked at the videos, we have done all the stuff and we are just trying to encourage everybody to stay in good spirits.
" Which they are to be fair, the players are very good, but at the same time believing in what we are doing. We have said it a number of times during the week, that we have been in the top six of this division for 50-odd games now, so the things that we are doing have got to be pretty much right. It is a question of not getting thrown around by a couple of adverse results.
" I consider changing the side all the time, you are looking at players, they are the ones that give you the indication. How they are in training, how they are working day in and day out, so you look at all those things. Whether we will do it or not is another matter, the team has been performing pretty well, consistently right the way through the season so far. So I am not going to get too uptight over two disappointments just in terms of results because the performances have been pretty good. "
" I think that we are very strong in the forward departments, you have seen us play, I like to play my two wide players and get them into wide areas and crossing areas. Sometimes the games have been open, I said right at the beginning, even the Bristol Rovers game which won 3-2 away was a very open game.
" That I think has been the case in most of the matches, there is probably only Southend who played against us that have been closing things up. I think that everybody has played open football and there have been considerably more goals scored in the whole league, not just by ourselves, about 40 or 50 extra than there were last year. I think that everybody has got an emphasis on striking and going forward, including ourselves.
" I back my players, I back my teams, I don't pick a team not to win of course. We are saying that this is how we can win it, this is what we have got to look at to be careful that they don't get in front of us. At the same time though I would back my players to go out to Walsall and do very well, if we can perform as we have done in the two defeats then we have got a chance of winning. Which is a daft thing to say in a sense but people who have seen us know that the performances have been better of late, and we need to just improve that final 30 yards of the pitch for me.
" People will look at all sorts of things, it is fair to criticise Ben Williams if you are going to blame Petr Cech for Manchester United's goal and David James for Chelsea's goal in midweek. It happens, that is the point that I am making, I am not having a go at goalkeepers, it happens. Any mistake that a goalkeeper may make is emphasised by the ball going in the back of his net generally.
" Danny Graham can put one over the bar from three yards and, it's not that it is forgotten, but it is not considered a match changing situation sometimes. So I look at it collectively and I think that there are one or two, the goals we have conceded are concerning me obviously but I think that there is more direction, a conclusive one, on everybody. "
" We look at everybody in terms of that, the first goal last week we should have had a marking job done better in the penalty box for the corner. Ben has chased the ball across his own penalty area a little bit, but it happens, I hope that it doesn't happen too many times because his position is under scrutiny, as everyone else's is.
" Chris Howarth hasn't intimated any unhappiness yet, he hasn't come in to see me. I have watched the reserve games played and Chris has been in those. He had a difficult time himself on Tuesday with five going past him, and again it was a collective one that, the team performance was below-par. So it is a difficult one but Chris hasn't knocked on my door.
" I was going to make the decision on Stephen Maher quite quickly anyway, I think that we can do. We have got a very strong squad and Stephen would have come in at 20-years old as an understudy at right-back. At the same time though he has got to be able to compete in there, we have got good competition around the defensive areas. People can play in full-back positions as well as David Raven can play centre-back, so I didn't feel that he was going to add the quality to the squad that I was after.
" I hope that the door isn't closed on that area now, we are always looking, I have been out, Greg (Abbott) has been out and Dennis (Booth) has been out at reserve games, as well as Stuart Gray and our other scouts. Looking at fixtures, looking at matches and logging about players getting information, so we don't finish doing it but we have got a squad that is fit and capable at the moment. We have just added Jennison (Myrie-Williams) to it as well, who has improved the group, so at the moment it is going to be a bit quieter but it doesn't stop us looking.
" I have missed more than I have gained having players recommended. Years ago at Bristol Rovers I was told about a player at Aylesbury*(note) who I could get out for £10,000. He was a striker, he was doing really well in non-league and that I had better go and have a look. At the time I had sorted out a fixture or two, it was only a fortnight since I had got the information, Kevin Phillips had been sold to Watford. I have missed more than I have probably gained in that respect, but I do pay attention when people give me a name to have a look at it, we do it a bit quicker now. "
* (note) - John Ward must have made an error in memory, Kevin Phillips never played for Aylesbury and was transferred from Baldock Town to Watford for £10,000 in December 1994