Graham Turner talks to the press after the 0-0 draw at Colchester
Town boss Graham Turner was pleased with the point gained at Colchester – a point which confirms the club’s League One status for next season. But Turner admitted that there wasn’t really a likelihood that relegation might have been on the cards - even if his side had lost at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
“You couldn’t have imagined 19 goals changing hands over 5 matches – that’s 3 for us and two for Scunthorpe,” he said. “But still, to be mathematically safe is a relief. There was a lot of energy I thought today and particularly in the 2nd half we got into some good positions but were a bit anxious at times. We were naive in certain positions and got caught offside once or twice but we defended well, we broke well and we passed it well.”
Town fielded a very young side today and Turner said that he wanted to bring a fresh energy to his side at this late stage of the campaign: “Three or four of the back four are 21, 22 and in Aaron, Jon Taylor and the two front players, it means that we’ve probably put out the youngest side the club’s had in many years. The young players can give you an energy boost and that’s what I felt we needed after two defeats. They’ve been working hard in training and hard in the reserves so in Aaron and Tom’s (Bradshaw) case they’ve deserved their places today.”
Turner was amazed that Sam Walker had denied his side a potential winner and also questioned the validity of the late Taylor goal that could have landed all 3 points: “I don’t know how he kept it out,” said the gaffer. “It was hit with power and was wind assisted but to get such a strong hand on it – it was an unbelievable save. I’m not sure why the goal was disallowed at the end but we should have done better at times especially with our forward movements. We’re a bit anxious to get there and on a number of occasions we got ourselves into offside positions.”
The manager wouldn’t commit himself as to whether he will field another young side for the Oldham game on Tuesday evening but stated that a very young reserve side would be fielded against Walsall on Monday.
Finally, Graham paid tribute to the near-500 following from Shropshire: “The level of our support away from home this season has been fantastic, both in terms of numbers and the vocal backing they have given us, so it wasn’t a surprise to see so many here. The encouragement they have given to the players away from home has been fantastic and it’s been a feature all season.”