Cheltenham Town travelled to Barnet on Saturday and walked away with a point on the road as the game finished 0-0. The Robins we’re down to ten men after Arkell Jude-Boyd was shown a second yellow card in the ninth minute of added time for his late tackle on Phillip Chinedu.
Sam Sherring reflected on his side’s 0-0 draw and the tough Barnet side: “They’re a really good team I think you could see in the first half that they’ve got some really good players and good patterns.
“It’s a tough place to come so I think a 0-0 draw away from home is never really a bad result and it stops the rot of losing a few games as well, so I think we’ll take point and then move on to Tuesday.”
Sherring admitted that the team had focused on Barnet’s ability to keep the ball well in training as he said “We did a lot of work in the week on them to be fair, we were really well drilled and knew what to expect.
“They have some really good rotations and good players individually, so you can’t really switch off. But a clean sheet is good for us as well so hopefully it’s something that we can build on again.”
Sherring praised his goalkeeper and revealed: “I do still think there’s things to look back on, but realise that he made a few saves, one definitely in the second half.
“I know that was a great save, so he did make a couple, but I think we’ll take the clean sheet as I say it’s good for us and we’re happy with that. On another day maybe we could’ve nicked a goal at the end, but we’ll take the point.”
He admitted that clean sheets are a massive focus for the players in the squad: “I think it’s something as players we are big on as we want to make sure that if we don’t win the game, make sure that we don’t lose the game as well.
“That starts from a clean sheet and not conceding. So, we’re really happy and as I say, it’s a tough place to come so we’ll take the point.”
Manager, Steve Cotterill initially selected his starting 11 with three at the back but changed to four at half time. Sherring admitted the ease and need for ability to change formation: “It wasn’t too difficult really, we’re used to playing a four so we tried the three and we felt that there were different ways we could’ve exploited them and they were exploiting us.
“So, we went back and flipped seamlessly and did quite well with the four in the second half. It’s good to play different types of formations and be able to switch mid game. I think now, in modern day football, it’s what you need.”
With the initial three at the back, Barnet were able to get through easier and push the back line back. Sherring added: “I think it’s also difficult being away from home knowing how well they keep the ball, you’re going to struggle sometimes.
“You have to deal with not having possession and sucking up the pressure and I think we did that quite well. We got into half time 0-0 and changed a few things and I thought we were stronger second half.”
Sherring played across three different positions as he started off on the right of the back three, then moved to right-back, and finished off at central midfield. He admitted: “I’m absolutely knackered to be honest, but I’ll do anything for the team, I’ll always try my best.
“Central midfield is a new one for me, I’ve not played there in a long time, probably since I was 18, but I just had to do a job as there’s a few injuries but anywhere the gaffer asks me to play, I’ll try my best.”
Sherring is a bit more comfortable in a right-back position compared to central midfield as he revealed “The right of a three is quite similar to right back of a four, it’s not too dissimilar. As I say, we’re really well drilled and the gaffer is good with us, so I think we’re able to adapt and change to different formations and positions.
The MK Dons loanee complimented his squad as he highlighted how important it is to have a backup plan “I think we’ve got a lot of players that can do that, look at Jonathan Tomkinson, he started at right wing-back then to left-back and centre-half, it’s good to have those different strings in your boat.
Ben Stevenson suffered a severe knee injury as he was stretchered off the pitch in the 73rd minute, Sherring wished him well: “I don’t know too much about it, it looked like his knee. He’s been an important player for us and he’s a great guy so hopefully he can recover well and won’t be out for too long.”
Sherring played his first full 90 minutes after his 10-week break with his hamstring tendon injury and disclosed how he felt: “I am tired but it’s a great feeling, I’ve missed it. I think it’s been 10 weeks, so I feel knackered, I’ll sleep well tonight but I enjoyed it. It feels good to be back out there.”
The Robins have a quick turnaround as they are set to head to top of the table Bromley with a 19:45 kick off. Sherring was honest in how the squad will mentally prepare: “These are the challenges that we can relish. I don’t think there’s any point going there and rolling over, I think we go there and prove a point and see what we can do.
“I think in this league, we can beat any team on our day so we will go there trying to get all three points and we know it’ll be a tough game but we’re confident for it.”
Sherring admitted his personal goals for the remainder of the season after his break from football, “Personally, I obviously just want to stay fit and get a run of games in. It’s obviously really frustrating to be out for a couple of months, but I just want to enjoy it now.
“As a team we want to keep building on what we’ve done so far and keep getting more points on the board every game. We don’t look too far ahead, just take each game as it comes. In football if you look too far ahead, you get washed away.”
You can watch the full interview here.
