If Cheltenham Town fail to find a win against Peterborough United tomorrow evening, their relegation to League Two will be confirmed with one league game to spare.
Cheltenham boss Darrell Clarke believes that his side are capable of beating Peterborough United in their final home game of the Sky Bet League One campaign on Tuesday evening.
He’s also admitted that he will be asking questions of his players ability to dig deep.
“I will be asking questions of my players,” Clarke said. “‘Can we deliver when we need to deliver yet again?’
“But, I will do that in a positive manner, so lets get behind the boys tomorrow night and support them.”
The Robins were left in the lurch when Clarke took charge in September, without a goal in 11 games and just two points to their name, survival was always going to be tough.
“We have been chasing most of the season and tomorrow is no different, we have to remain positive.
“The players have my full support because we have a situation where it is not in our hands.
“whatever 18 players I put out there, I hope they can do their club proud.”
The gaffer spoke to the local press this morning ahead of tomorrow night's clash with Peterborough United at the Completely-Suzuki!#ctfc♦️
— Cheltenham Town (@CTFCofficial) April 22, 2024
There are limitations within the squad, with more injuries suffered in the 2-1 defeat to Lincoln City on Saturday – Lewis Freestone, Tom Pett, George Lloyd, Rob Street, Aidan Keena are alrady sidelined with Greg Sloggett being the latest addition to the long queue that snakes out of the treatment room.
Yet, despite being down to the ‘bare bones’, Clarke insists that his squad’s application cannot be doubted.
“The motivation of this group should never be questioned, I am an experienced manager and know when the players have not been at it – that is certainly not the case.
“Have they lacked quality? Yes. Have I tried to and improved the players? Yes, immensely.
“but we still need more from the group.”
As for the visitors, Peterborough will definitely be in the League One play-offs, but they can still finish in the top spot and potentially earn automatic promotion with a few emphatic results and fortunate outcomes elsewhere.
The Robins manager is under no illusions of the scale of tomorrow night’s task and will never surrender.
“We have to put on a performance, the fans care passionately about this club and it is up to us to make sure we are prepared to give it our best shot.
“Peterborough are a fantastic side with a fantastic manager who has had huge success at this level – we will need to be very good to beat them.
“I am not a negative guy, so there is certainly no white flag coming from me.”
Image courtesy of Nizaam Jones
