The gaffer speaks ahead of Saturday's game at Hartlepool...
Thursday’s press conference began with the news that one of the clubs stand-out performers this season, Darius Charles has suffered a fractured Fibula in his leg and is looking at a lengthy spell watching from the stands.
“It’s bad news. It was a fracture to his leg so it looks like he’s gone for the season now, which is a big blow because he’s been in great form.
“As big a loss as he’ll be as a character and as a player, we have to move on without him now and it’s all about the boys who are fit, are available and can win us points.”
In more injury news, GW says Jon Ashton’s availability at the weekend is up-in-the-air and he doesn’t expect any other casualties to be ready for action.
“He’s not in great shape, Ash. Obviously it was his first game back in 9, 10 weeks out, he’s had an operation and it was the same ankle that he injured so it’s touch ‘n’ go as to whether he’ll be available for the weekend and we’re not sure yet about the longer term implications.
“The majority of the boys who’ve gone have gone with fairly serious issues. Petty had a fracture in his leg when he was given that yellow card and most of them have gone with injuries that aren’t looking like being short term fixes."
It’s a squad game though and GW highlighted Andy Bond as being an example of a player coming in from the fringes to make a positive impact on the team.
“We have to get on with the boys that are available and we saw the other night, a lad like Bondy come back in from the cold and I thought he was excellent in the job that he was asked to do the other night.
“It’s lads like Bondy who have a great opportunity in front of them that are the future for us now. We have to make sure that the boys who’ve been our squad players step up to the mark and do their job.”
Moving onto the game at hand; no matter the form or position of the opposition, GW says long distance games are always tough.
“It’s never an easy job when you travelling those sort of distances, to the Carlisle’s and the Hartlepool’s and the North West clubs. It adds another dimension to the job.
“You’ve got to plan and prepare your travel, you’ve got to plan and prepare your fuelling. You’ve got to get a lot right; we don’t travel in as great a number to those places so you’re up against the odds when you’re going into those environments.
"You have to get a lot right to play well, you have to get a lot right to play well and win and we’ve been putting our mind to the job of getting the best out of ourselves at the weekend ever since the game finished the other night.”
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