After Tuesday night’s game against Stoke City, Darren Sarll says the few days since have been all about recovery after an exhausting 90 minutes against the Premier League side.
On Saturday the team return to league action at Grimsby and Sarll believes the players will be extra motivated to put in a performance at Blundell Park.
“Obviously there are a lot of tired bodies now and it is about recovering them and getting them right for Saturday,” Sarll said. “The reaction is that we played against some very good players and are a little bit disappointed that we didn’t have a little more outcome or productivity for the effort the players put in, which was immense.
“The players are probably a little bit disappointed with the way people have spoken about them if I am honest. That will only fuel the fire for Saturday. It certainly fuels my fire so we will take that on board, take all the criticism that has been out there and harness it into a good performance.”
Not a month into the season and the first big injury blow has already hit the squad. Tom Conlon ruptured his ACL after coming on as a substitute against Luton and Sarll offered his sympathy to the player.
“It is very sad. Worst of all, it is just unfortunate. The boys can’t control how or when that type of injury is going to occur. No-one is around him, he puts his foot down, knee twists in the wrong direction – 6/9 months.
“He will get unbelievable support and treatment from us. We will make sure that Tom Conlon comes back better.”
A player who knows all about recovering from ACL injuries is Steven Schumacher. The midfielder went down against Bristol Rovers last November but is now almost ready to return to the team.
“Steve was very quick to lay support at Tom’s feet which was typical of Steve. He is getting very close, I thought today was actually his first real session where he was looking like he could be a part of the squad. I thought he trained very well today in a very intense session. It will be nice to have him around again.”
Finally, we announced the loan signing of Henry Cowans from Aston Villa a little earlier today and Sarll says he is excited to get working with the youngster.
“Henry is a player that we have identified in U21 games. Glenn and I saw him twice this year and were very impressed with his technical ability and very impressed with the way he manages the ball.
“He has got those Tom Conlon type traits and obviously with Tom stepping out of the scene for a while it ended up being a decent time to bring Henry in. He will be great for us, he will give us a little more cover and support, a little more athleticism.”
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