Martin looks to positives after Wycombe defeat...
Martin Allen said he was disappointed with his side’s second half performance in the 1-0 defeat against Wycombe, but chose to put the club’s position in perspective and look to the positives.
Matt McClure’s 86th minute strike prevented the Gills from returning to the top of the table, but the Manager refused to blame his players and was focussed on improving the overall performance for the two away trips coming up at Bradford and York.
Speaking after the game he said: “We played well, we passed the ball and looked comfortable- just before half time we had a few tricky minutes and then in the second half we didn’t play well enough.
“We were far too open and on the counter attack they looked very dangerous and it was a very disappointing second half.
“I won’t portion blame to any of our players, it’s a team game. They have pace up front and some good attacking players which we knew full well but we didn’t get on top of them – they played well in the second half but we didn’t and that’s something we have got to look at.
“We were far too open as a team and we let them have far too many opportunities at our goal and where we are in the league has been built on being hard to beat and restricting the opposition to very few chances.
“At home we are finding it difficult, let’s not hide behind the curtains. It’s difficult for us to find wins at home and performances for 95 minutes and that’s something we have to face up to, deal with and help our players to get better.
“We’ve seen some other clubs with their home form recently has been pretty shocking and it does affect people and it does affect footballers. It’s how we deal with it, cope with it, manage ourselves, our players and the setbacks.
“these are the tests you face over 10 months – there will be ups and downs and testing times but our away form is the best in the history of this football club should we beat Bradford on Saturday.
“Does it annoy me, does it bug me? Well it kind of hurts me because I want to see our supporters go home happy. The lads have done fantastically well away from home, every game away from home we are right on it and come this game on Saturday we will be right on it again.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for another big crowd in a great stadium; they go to the cup final in two weeks’ time.
“Let’s not feel sorry for ourselves or blame other people, let’s now get ready for Bradford.
“I need to help the players and support them, I need to give them some guidance and get them going again. I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere on Saturday and without a shadow of a doubt our players will be ready for it.
“They are not happy; they are disappointed and haven’t enjoyed themselves. I haven’t enjoyed watching it and I’m sure the supporters that came here haven’t enjoyed it either.
“We’ve got stuff to look at, and we will.
“Let’s not go too mad or too crazy, let’s keep it all in perspective. Disappointing second half even though we still had chances, we were too open.”
The squad will stay up north for a few days with the Bradford and York fixtures just a few days apart, and the Manager is hoping it will provide a chance for the players to bond.
He added: “The Chairman has been very generous and has sorted out a trip away for most of the players and staff of course but it’s not a holiday camp, we need to train and work and it helps people to get to know each other a bit better.
“The training pitch is where you build team spirit and bonding and those trips when you go away you rely on that. We’ve got some work to do and while we are away we can do it.”