The gaffer reflects on the loss to Colchester and looks ahead to the final fixtures of the season...
After the 3-2 loss to Colchester, Boro’s relegation fears heightened as they were left bottom of the league with only four games left in the season.
Stevenage went 1-0 up through Michael Doughty’s first-half goal but Colchester came back at Boro and scored three times without response to effectively finish off the game. A late, Luke Freeman free-kick gave Boro a glimmer of hope into injury time.
Graham Westley spoke after the game about how he could see the opposition’s response coming.
“I was busy trying to get a message across to the players that if you sit on the back-foot and invite a team on, any team can score a goal against you and I think we did that. We started the game with a desire to go score a goal, we went and got the goal then we sat back on it. We didn’t work hard enough to take the game to them; we let them bring the game to us.
“It was coming, it was foreseeable. I was trying to change the momentum of the game. I was trying to talk to the lads and shift the way in which we were playing. So often this season we’ve seen the team not willing to be influenced, not willing to shift a gear, to change what it’s doing. Sometimes I think not even appreciating that the information they’re been given is right.”
Four points adrift. Four games to go. Boro face a tough test away at Sheffield United on Friday, followed by two home games against Bristol City and Walsall before a final trip to Brentford.
“If we’re going to get out of this we’ve got to do something unbelievable now. To get out of it and win four games were going to need players who are playing right on the edge, playing with that hunger, that desire, that sense of responsibility, that sense of togetherness. We’ve got to leave a lot behind and we’ve got to really get ourselves on the front foot.
“It looks impossible to most and a lot of people will think that way, I’ll always be optimistic and I’ll always be looking for the answer and I’ll always be thinking it’s only 360 minutes of football and over 360 minutes of football if you really pull yourselves together anything’s possible.”
To watch the full post-match interview with GW, sign into Boro Player.
Tickets for the final home games against Bristol City and Walsall are available to buy online at Boro Tickets, where they are cheaper to buy online.