Forest Green Rovers manager Robbie Savage said he believes Southend United could do the playoff and FA Trophy double ahead of their clash at Roots Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Jordan Moore-Taylor and Ryan Inniss both returned from lengthy spells in the recovery room on Tuesday night during Forest Green Rovers’ 2-0 win over Yate Town in the Gloucestershire FA County Cup semi-final.
“They were fine, it was much-needed minutes for all our players because we’ve got no reserve team or B team. Getting games is quite difficult, so that’s something we’ll look at for next season,” Savage said.
“Credit to Yate, they gave us a good game, credit to Yan Klukowski and Mike Byrne from the academy, players making their first appearance for the first team, I think that’s now 10 players who have performed in the first team from the academy.
2-0 Rovers.
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) March 10, 2026
Nick Haughton drives forward, nobody makes a tackle and he thumps it into the bottom corner beyond a diving keeper. pic.twitter.com/npz2gGCnch
“Max Robson had cramp, and Tre Pemberton felt his groin a little bit, but there were no reports of any injuries yesterday, the rule is that if you feel something in the game, you have to be in the next day, and there was no one in yesterday.”
Rovers travel to Roots Hall to take on fellow playoff-chasing Southend United on Saturday afternoon, where manager Kevin Maher is under pressure after four games without a win, including two draws against the bottom two sides in the division.
“Kev’s done a brilliant job, as a manager now, you seem to get criticised for draws, Kev’s been there for four years, took them to Wembley last year, he’s got two opportunities to get to Wembley this year, twice.
“He’s got a team who know what they’re doing in that 3-5-2 shape, and arguably come the end of the season, Kev could have had a better season than a York or Rochdale.
“I think Southend will make the playoffs because they’ve got three games in hand, and they could win the playoffs, and they could win the FA Trophy.”
Forest Green have struggled away from home against the top sides in the National League this season, beating only Halifax Town inside the top 12 places in their second away game of the season.
“This team now needs to produce in a big game away from home. We’ve played well at times, we were excellent against Carlisle, good against York and Rochdale, and Boreham Wood, it was a different us in the 3-5-2, but this team needs to go and produce.
“We’re going to treat it like a playoff quarter-final or semi-final, we’ve got nine cup finals left, and then hopefully two or three more depending on where we finish, and every game from now we’re going to treat as a playoff game.
“A point will be good on the road against Southend, but we’re not going to go there for one; we’re going to try and get all three.”
Savage has struggled to pick a consistent starting XI after a difficult January, with many loans recalled and plenty of new faces brought in.
Harry Whitwell has returned from his loan spell at Forest Green Rovers. 🔙
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 7, 2026
Welcome back, Harry! 🤝
“We might stick with the same consecutive XI for the first time since before Christmas, but when you’re trying things, when you’re losing games, when medical staff are saying a player shouldn’t be playing so often, you have to take all these things into account and select a team for the weekend who you think can win a game,” Savage said.
“Doidgey probably won’t be available at the weekend. I will have the conversation with him today, so it’s an opportunity for others, Jose Marquez is fit now, will he get a chance on the bench; D’Mani Mellor will start, but we need an attacking option off the bench.
“I think finally, after four and a half years, I think Mendy is a midfield player, I think his days of playing centre-half, unless in an emergency, are over, I think his future is in the midfield.
“I think Tate can get better, he needs to scan over his shoulder more, he’s very good on the ball, he’s got his goal, and I’ve been delighted with him, that partnership is starting to grow.
The 51-year-old commentated on Bodo/Glimt’s 3-0 win over Sporting in the Champions League on Wednesday and made a striking resemblance.
“I likened Bodo/Glimt to Forest Green last night, people might think ‘here he goes again’, but what I mean by that is they’ve got a population of 50,000, 8,000 fans last night watching their team in the Champions League, they could get in the quarter-finals.
“Forest Green, Nailsworth have a population of 5,000, and we were the first village team to get into the EFL, and that’s quite a comparison.”
Savage emphasised the importance of the fixture against Southend for confidence, to show him that they can beat the top teams away from home.
“For the mentality of the group, to show us, myself included, that we can go to a place like Southend and win, can we go to a big club with a good fanbase, stamp our authority and win a game away from home, or play well and get something.
“Regardless of the outcome, we’ve then got Wealdstone, we lost to them at home in the Trophy, they’re up to 10th in the table, so we’ve got huge games coming up.
“This season could be an amazing season, but it’s been a season of transition; it’s exciting.
