After picking up just one point from our last two games, Dino Maamria is determined to get back to winning ways at Blundell Park…
Saturday’s result may have been an unexpected one, but the gaffer explains that football can be surprising and that his side will not take anything for granted.
“There is no worse feeling than preparing the team for a certain scenario and then 25 seconds in, a hugely deflected goal changes the whole game plan, but that is football I guess.”
“It has been a crazy couple of months really. We scored last minute at Oldham, scored two in added time at Lincoln, we conceded last kick of the game at Northampton and against Bury.”
“It has been quite hard to take, but that is football and that is why we love the game. You have got to take the rough with the smooth.
“We are where we are for a reason. We haven’t been consistent enough throughout the season. There are lots of lessons to be learnt. It is my first season at the football club and I have learnt a lot as well. Looking back at it I would do a lot of things different, but that is learning.”
“We are only one point away from our tally of last season and we have reached that with six games to go. We have been top ten all season and I have got to make sure we are not slipping away and we finish the season as strong as we can to give ourselves something to build on next season.”
A dip of form in recent weeks has seen Stevenage slip to twelfth place, as Maamria’s play-off hopes seem to be fading
“It would be fantastic to get promotion this season but I think there is a mountain to climb now. I have learnt to be patient, I need time.”
“With six games left and 18 points to play for I think there are still twists and turns to the season but we are too far off now I think. We needed to get six points out of the last two games and we didn’t do that.
I have got to make sure we finish the season as strong as possible to give us a foundation for next season.”
“We will go game-by-game starting this week at Grimsby, which is a tough place to go. We have got to go back to basics and do the things we did well in January and September/October where we were picking up a lot of points.”
“That is what this week has been about with the squad– what were we doing to pick up an average of two points a game like we were. Those times in the season we ran a lot harder, ran a lot more distance, we were closing down a lot quicker, we had higher regains of possession in the opposition half and we put a lot of crosses in the box.”
“We will look to go back to that now and go back to things that we did well when we were picking up results.
“I need to play a team that is going to run hard and compete, win that first and second ball, put the opposition on the back foot.”
“Grimsby are going through a difficult period themselves and I am sure they want to put that right, but I will make sure that is not at our expense on Saturday.”
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