Graham Turner's thoughts after the 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient
Town started their away campaign with a 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient but at half-time most of the people in the Matchroom Stadium couldn't see that scoreline coming. Town had weathered some early O's pressure and finished the half the stronger and with the better of the chances. More of the same was needed but in the end Town didn't put in a poor second half performance and the homeside ran out comfortable winners.
After the game manager Graham Turner was asked for his thoughts on the game and he was disappointed with his sides 'game of two halves':"We needed to stay strong, we knew they were a threat from set-plays, that they were very direct and we would have to deal with all that," Turner said.
"We did it for 45 minutes, in fact we did it very well and also had one or two chances and I thought their keeper made several good saves. For 20 minutes before half-time, we really took the game to them.
"The first goal though settled them down, it settled the crowd down and it was a pivotal in the game.
"That gave them momentum and after that they got on the front foot a bit more. The really annoying thing for me is that we went through set-plays in training and again at our hotel, but we got caught from two of them.
"You can't afford to do that, we knew what was coming and you have to be able to deal with it. "As a manager, you think that a three-nil scoreline is harsh and wasn't a true reflection of the entire 90 minutes, but we have to be a bit more aggressive in their box if we are going to get goals.
"The same at the other end, we've got to be able to deal with a long throw or a second ball from a long throw and we have to defend the back post better than we did.
The managers revealed that his side had been warmed about the O'd threat from set-pieces but two of the goals on the day came from Town's inability to head these warnings:”We knew they were a threat from set-plays and we knew they can be very direct at times.
“The annoying thing for me is that we looked at defending set-plays yesterday in training and went through it again at the hotel but today we've got caught by two goals from set-plays.”
GT was asked if he felt that the 3-0 scoreline wasn't a true reflection of this sides contribution to the game:”I think overall it was harsh and as a manager you have to look at things and see if was a true reflection of things over the entire 90 minutes.
“We've just been talking about aggression in both penalty boxes, we had one or two good deliveries into the box and balls flashed across the face of goal and we have to be a bit more aggressive in there if we are going to get goals.
“At the other end we have to be able to deal with a long throw and defend the back-post better than we did”
Town now have a break from match action until the visit of Swindon Town to the Greenhous Meadow on Saturday. GT will continue his work on the training pitch with the lads and with the work to strengthen the squad:”There are two aspects to next week, strengthening the squad and working at things in training to keep the spirits up.
“We've asked the players for their thoughts after today and how they feel about it and their belief is that we are better than the 3-0 scoreline here.
“We've got to keep doing what we've been working on in pre-season and get ourselves ready for the test against Swindon next Saturday.”