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" He (Ben Williams) epitomises everything at our football club where we accept responsibility. He accepts it in a very professional manner as you have listened to, as all the players do, as all the coaching staff do. We are working very hard to rectify the situation and I have to make different decisions but I listen to my goalkeeper there and I am very, very pleased with how he has talked to you about it.
" In a very professional mature manner, accepting the situation, accepting his responsibility and saying that he is working very, very hard to rectify his position. That is exactly what every player in our football club is trying to do.
" A new goalkeeper is not something that I chased to be fair, the Ben Alnwick one was something that I spoke about to a guy three or four or weeks ago. I had it put away really though, I had forgotten that conversation and it cropped up very quickly on Wednesday morning telling us that there was a position there and we could do it if we wanted to.
" Both Greg (Abbot) and myself have got contacts at Tottenham and we pursued those contacts and found that we could do the deal for Ben Alnwick. We felt that at the time that it was a situation that we had to do. We are pleased that we have done it, we have put him in tomorrow and we hope that he does very well.
" Taking Ben Williams out of the firing line sooner will always be the question that we will have to answer. As Ben says, you look at things and wonder if that should have been the case. We decided not to do that, he made the mistake against Tranmere, he played extremely well at Rochdale, people were saying that he was the man-of-the-match and played extremely well. "
" We felt that he did pretty well last week at MK Dons, but could have done better with the second goal. I felt that now was the right time to probably take Ben and give him that breather because he is not immune, goalkeepers are not immune from those situations as he has just said. Their place is vulnerable just as everyone else's is, but time will tell whether we got the decision right at the right time.
" Chris (Howarth) is disappointed obviously, and again that is the responsibility and a decision that I have made in terms of my goalkeepers and bringing Ben Alnwick in. It is not a situation that I have chased though, it is not something that I desperately set out to do thinking that we must get a goalkeeper in. Because I think that would have been for the wrong reasons.
" We have brought Ben Alnwick in because it cropped up and we could do and we know that he is a very good keeper. Chris Howarth is a bit unfortunate in that respect but Chris hasn't actually played in a competitive league game either. So the decision was that we can get a guy in who has done that and that is what we chose to do.
" I have spoken to Chris over yesterday and today, and he is upset and disappointed but he again, like Ben Williams, accepts the decision and is prepared to get on and work through it. That is what I would hope that all my players would do, I know that they are disappointed but at the back end of it they have got to work hard to achieve a position in the team if they can do that.
" There is no reason why Chris shouldn't have a long-term future at the football club. Ben Alnwick is here for a month, I don't think that there is any conversation between Tottenham and myself that we can deal with him on a full-time basis. He went to Tottenham for £900,000 and I think that that is to our credit at the club that we have got a goalkeeper in of that quality.
" At the same time though it makes life very difficult to even think about even bringing him in permanently. So it is for a month and it gives my goalkeepers that bit of breathing space to wonder what they do next, and Chris Howarth comes into that category where we are considering every option for them. "
" A longer loan has not been discussed for Ben Alnwick in terms of the length of time. It cropped up quickly on Wednesday, I was travelling to watch our reserve game at Preston as well on that day. A lot of it was done in the car and on the road and during the afternoon while I was watching the game. So it was really done while I was in another working environment, it was a case of that we could do it so let's get the lad in and we will discuss other things later on.
" He was actually up in Scotland, he had been on a short tour with the Tottenham team, or a group of Tottenham players, where they had played at Middlesbrough and then were going up to Celtic for a game I think today. So we had Ben up North and it happened quite quickly, so further discussions have obviously not taken place. We have got the young fellow in, he will play tomorrow and we will see where it leads to.
" Neil Dalton has got a good squad being looked after but at the same time I have to, without being detrimental to that group, I have got to put them to one side. I have to say to Neil that he looks after them and I have got to go with the fit players that we have and put a team out tomorrow that gives us a chance to win.
" It is a lengthy list but it is not worth me cribbing about it because a lot of people are not interested, some will be quite pleased and my job is to try to get the result tomorrow. It won't be a question of saying that there are injured players, that is why we didn't do it, we worked very hard over the last two or three days to make sure that the fit players are available, in good spirits and well prepared to play in the game.
" Greg Abbot has got toothache but he also epitomised everything, he has put that away and got on that training ground and done a terrific job this week. As everybody around me has done, even his toothache has come secondary to what we are trying to do. No other players are injured, just one of my staff and we will look after him.
" The only pressure on me is what I put on myself and that is every weekend to try to do as well as I can. The board as you have seen have been exceptionally supportive, we have brought Graham Kavanagh in who himself has moved for £1 million in his career, he has come out of the Premier League to join in the cause for us. Ben Alnwick, £900,000, has come out of the Premier League to join us, we have extended the loan of Jennison Myrie-Williams out of the Championship to stay with us for a further month. "
" So there is no pressure on me in that sense from the board, just really terrific support. I think that it shows that everybody within the football club, the board, the management and the players are doing everything that they can to try to get this team and this situation put right. We hope very much that the supporters will recognise that and come along with us tomorrow and hopefully cheer us on and back us all the way to try to get what we all want.
" On a one-to-one basis with the fans it is courtesy, if people want to come anonymously then I think that it is not really something that I can pay great attention to. I have spoken to people one-on-one this week though, there was a guy running out yesterday across our training ground that came to chat me. I was happy to talk to him because he had taken the time out. There were people across the car-park when I have walked there, they are buying tickets and they want to chat about situations.
" They are not all complimentary, they are concerned the same as I am but they want to talk and I think that is absolutely right that we chat to them and talk to them, and offer them our views as well listen to theirs. As I say though, it is the anonymous ones that I find difficult to really give the correct attention to. Anybody and anyone that wants to write or call will get the attention and will get the information off me as best as I can offer it to them.
" Playing Josh Gowling is a view and an opinion, I played Josh at right-back at Rochdale and we put David Raven back in there, we didn't think that Josh looked as comfortable as he could. He has been a bit unfortunate in terms of missing out with a bump and an injury and a bit of an illness and what you have you. He is back in good form though, he played very well in the reserve team in midweek away at Preston, he is right back in the frame and he is in that squad tomorrow.
" Evan (Horwood) has had his upsets but I think that we could go through one or two players in terms of individuals and say that they had had their little upsets in terms of games. It is a question for me of whether you support, whether you leave or whether you change. I can't change everybody but Darren Campion I feel is really coming back into form, he travelled with us last weekend, he played very well on Wednesday in the reserve game that I saw and he is in that squad as well tomorrow.
" Those guys, Josh and Darren are really pushing their places very, very hard. Having said that I thought that Evan had a good game last Saturday, a better game for him and he is coming back in. He and Simon Hackney are a good partnership when they get it going. Everybody is under scrutiny though and we are working very hard to get it right, but people like Campion and Gowling are on that sheet for tomorrow. "