After earning a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley on Saturday that bumped Cheltenham Town up to 14th place in the League One table, the Robins now prepare to face fellow third division new boys Morecambe tomorrow night.
Manager Michael Duff began his press conference by addressing the potential for his side to win consecutive home games in the league for the first time this season.
“To win back-to-back is huge in any league, and our home record has been OK.”
“It’ll be tough (because) Morecambe are a really good team, they surprised everyone last year and they’ve definitely built on that.”
“They’ve lost the last two away games, but they’ve scored five goals within that so it shows they’re a real threat and we know we’re gonna be up against it.”
Duff highlighted Morecambe’s variety of systems they use, adding that his side will need to be aware of their fluid, attacking threat.
“They’re (Morecambe) different in that they’re a lot more fluid with formations.
“Last year they would hit teams on the counter attack, this year they’ve been a bit more progressive, they’ve flipped formations more often.
“I know Robbo (Stephen Robinson) well and he’s a good coach, he knows his football and I think they’re more free flowing in terms of the goals they’ve scored.”
“They’ve scored 22 goals in 12 games, which shows how attacking they’ve become.”
The Robins boss went on to talk about fans’ expectations of his side, emphasising that they will have to do things differently to their rivals to compete.
“I don’t think anyone will have expected us to win the league or Morecambe to be promoted, but they’ve kicked on since then by recognising they’re in a better league and they’ve had a go.”
“We’ve both had good starts, but I’m sure along with us and one other will be in the bottom two or three.”
“You’ve just got to find a different way to do things, because we can’t compete financially but I’ve not heard anyone complaining about it because it is what it is.”
He concluded with injury news ahead of tomorrow night, with a mixture of fortunes for a couple of his players.
Taylor Perry’s injury is not as bad as we first thought, but he’s got to get his hip scanned so he won’t be ready for tomorrow because we’re still at the assessment stage,’ said Duff.
Will Boyle should be fine, hopefully it was just a twisted ankle and nothing more serious than that.”
A victory for Cheltenham tomorrow could lift them as high as 11th if other results go their way, while Morecambe could rise above Duff’s team if they claim all three points.
