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Interviews

Pre Sheffield Wednesday | Steve Cotterill

27 April 2023

Interviews

Pre Sheffield Wednesday | Steve Cotterill

27 April 2023

Manager Steve Cotterill chatted to the press ahead of our game against Sheffield Wednesday.

Town welcome Darren Moore's side to Montgomery Waters Meadow on Saturday for what is our penultimate home game of the season.

Wednesday arrive looking to chase down both Plymouth and Ipswich in the race for automatic promotion.

Town, though, are desperate to end the season on a high and secure what would be a deserved place in the top half of the table.

Speaking to the assembled media, Steve revealed the players have been training at the stadium this week with pitch renovations at the training ground already underway for next season.

The boss also gave his thoughts on the Wednesday game and provided a fitness update on Christian Saydee and Tom Flanagan.

ON TRAINING AT THE STADIUM: 

"The training ground, we have taken the top off it.

"If we leave a lot of the pitch renovations until after the season – there are so many other clubs that will jump in and we’ll never get the renovations done. 

"We booked it in last year a week before we finished and the year before - which is a really good idea. 

"We know then we get another week of growing before pre-season." 

ON THE PAST WEEK: 

"The week has been okay. The boys can rest and recuperate a little bit after last week - I thought that was a really tough week for them. 

"But they are re-energised and they’ll be ready to go at the weekend."

ON CHRISTIAN SAYDEE: 

"It was nice to see him get out onto the pitch (at Bolton). He wouldn’t have been able to do that 10 days, two weeks before. 

"But I don’t know whether he is quite back to full fitness. 

"It is one of those injuries, it’s not like a muscle – when a muscle repairs you are okay to go again after you build up. 

"But a fat pad is a really awkward one because it’s only when his leg gets into a hyper-extension which it does when he plants it, when he shoots. 

"I don’t know whether that is right. But I think last week he just saw how short we were and put himself up which is a credit to him really. 

"But I don’t think he’s quite back to where he wants to be or needs to be. I just think he is toughing it out. 

"We have to be careful. We can say to him go out there and strike 10 balls and he might be alright with nine of them. 

"But then on the 10th he goes and injures himself and then you turn around and say ‘why did we get him to do that?’ 

"If you think about how many shots he would get off in a game – two to three maybe – but then there are a couple of long passes you’ve got to add on top of that. 

"You can keep aggravating a fat pad. It will settle down. There is nothing majorly wrong with him. But I think it can sometimes take that sharpness away. 

"We will wait and see. We have got another day. He has trained. But we have got another day to make decisions on a couple of them."

ON TOM FLANAGAN: 

"He is another one, we have to wait as long as we can. We do the best preparation we can with what we have got. 

"But until you can name that team, which has been really, really, difficult over the past few weeks – you can’t quite get the work in that you would like to get in. 

"I think what we need to do is wait and see what we have got – 24 hours is a long time at the moment for a few of them."

ON THE LAST THREE GAMES OF THE SEASON: 

"The players have been in all season. I don’t anticipate them checking out now.

"We will be ready and we will be committed with whatever 11 we put out there." 

ON SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: 

"They will fill that away end like they always do. That will make an atmosphere for our three sides of the ground. 

"It will be a good atmosphere, it will be a challenge for us like it will be for our supporters because I’m sure they’ll be loud down that end. 

"I think they have had a good season. They have had a few injuries as well that have disrupted them over the last few weeks. 

"And it just goes to show that even a club the size of Sheffield Wednesday - and the size of their squad – what a couple of injuries can do. 

"I think really it’s credit to them that they are still up there with the injuries they have had. 

"There will be too many people that will have a downer on them because they were up there and all of a sudden Plymouth and Ipswich have jumped ahead. 

"But you never know what can happen in this game.

"We know it will be a tough game. Their situation really doesn’t concern us. It’s nothing to do with us, it’s Darren, it’s his squad and it’s their club. 

"We just have to do the best we can for what we want to do and what we want to achieve – and that’s to be committed for 46 games. 

"We have got three to go and we are looking forward to them."Generic-Web-Banner-Home-22-23.jpg


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