A brace from young Cheltenham Town winger Jordan Thomas ensured Cheltenham Town held on to claim victory over Colchester United at the Job Serve Community Stadium this weekend. The Robins manager, Michael Flynn, shared his thoughts after his side came away with the win.
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— Cheltenham Town (@CTFCofficial) October 20, 2024
“It was a great win, I thought that it was an excellent away performance. We knew they had quality from the players they’ve got, and Cowley’s experience and a good budget as well, so we knew they could hurt us.
“I think (Samuel) Tovide going off helped; I think he’s an outstanding prospect, 20 years of age strong, quick, competitive, so I was over the moon he went off – I do hope he’s okay in terms of his injury. But we then changed formation and went to a three (started with a four) and moved into a 3-4-3 where we knew where we could expose them and showed exactly what we worked on this week.”
Flynn was delighted with the result, particularly with how his players had transferred their work in training into the match. The 44-year-old also highlighted areas that his side needs to work on.
“I’ve gotta give the boys credit because they’ve executed what we’ve been telling them today almost to the letter of the law.
“We had a couple of scary moments at the end, but that’s where players have come in that haven’t played in a while, and that’s where that communication level needs to improve.
“In terms of their attitude and mentality today, I was absolutely delighted, and it’s no more than that travelling support deserves because I thought they got right behind the players today.”
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— Cheltenham Town (@CTFCofficial) October 19, 2024
It’s been a shaky situation within and around the club in recent weeks, with Town dropping points and under-performing, but the Welshman has ensured he wants to keep a togetherness around the squad and the supporters.
“Win lose or draw, just stick together, and that’s exactly what I’m asking my players to do, and I’m asking all the fans to stick with us as well.
“Yes, it’s frustrating. Yes, we want to be higher up. But listen, this is a tough league, and we’ve got a new and inexperienced team. They’ve shown it at Salford and Grimsby and lost, so today was the best win of the season so far.”
Flynn further praised his side’s team spirit that they showed throughout the match, and that was what he was most pleased with.
“First of all, how much they stuck together, how hard they worked for each other, as I said, there are players that have been out for a while that haven’t played too many games – I’ve not been able to pick the same team twice all season – but they’ve just put in a performance there now where I’m starting to get more trust in more of the players, not just the experienced ones. I thought Sam Stubbs was superb as well.”
Flynn then shifted his attention to the Robins’ next match, where they host a strong Bradford City side at the EV Charger Points Stadium on Tuesday evening.
“We’ve got a real tough game Tuesday night against Bradford who’ll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, so we’ve got to replicate that work ethic and that mentality, and hopefully at home, we can have a little bit more quality and score some more goals.
“It’s going to be a difficult night, and we’re ready to go. Obviously, Sam Stubbs isn’t available as it’s his parent team, so we’ll have to see how Levi is. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do over the next few days.”
