Ahead of Saturday’s match at Forest Green Rovers, Caretaker Manager Mark Sampson has spoken about the re-signing of Michael Timlin, following a few month’s away from the Club...
Timlin re-signed on Friday morning and Sampson says that he will be a key ingredient to the Stevenage squad.
“I am delighted he has agreed to come back. We have spoken with Tims in the last few days and he was eager to come and train. A player of his calibre and experience could have easily demanded that we make a decision, but we wanted to see him, his physical level and how he blends into this group. We were impressed, simple as that.
“I think we have got to be clear as a football club that if we are signing players who are over a certain age, then they have got to have three things. They have got to have a winning mindset. They have got to come here with the ambition to win things, to win matches, to win every day on the training ground. And everyone who knows Tims knows that is exactly what he has got.
“They have got to have some leadership qualities. They have got to come here and influence young people and to be good role models. From what I have seen and from what all the players have told me, Revs in particular, is that he will bring that leadership to us.
“Finally, could he bring something that we felt could help us gain a winning edge? I think that with his profile in midfield - his bite, his tenacity, his quality on the ball is probably something we have been lacking a little bit in the last couple of weeks. I definitely feel he can come in and bring those three qualities to us. He is fit, he is available, and he will be looking to compete for a place as soon as possible.”
Two straight defeats within the past week have only upped the need for a first victory of the season and with a trip to Forest Green Rovers on the horizon, Sampson says the group are very much aware about the position they are in and what they need to do in-order to improve.
“Disappointing results, absolutely. As much as there was positive aspects to those performances, we know we need to get some results and points on the board.
“The players are working so hard on and off the field to be better but at the moment we are just falling short in both penalty areas.
“That has been a big focus for this week and we know that come Saturday, we are going to have be clinical in both boxes. As good as some of our play has been in-between the boxes, that clinical nature and mindset to finish off chances we create and to defend our own box is going to be critical for us moving forward.”
Despite the nightmarish start to the season, Sampson says that the squad are remaining positive and optimistic about the future with so much of the campaign still to play.
“The spirit within this group is outstanding, it really is. They care so much about getting some result and making our supporters proud. They are devastated at the moment that we can’t give them that but it is only us that can turn it around.
“Only through hard work, resilience, determination and desire can we turn this round of result round. I can assure everybody that the players are showing all those qualities in abundance on a daily basis and I have never seen a more determined group to get this team moving forward.
“That is our complete focus now for Saturday, to be ready for a tough challenge away at Forest Green, to prepare as well as we can, to turn up there with a huge emotional energy and intensity ready to fight for everything we are going to get and those three points.”
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