Loan star targeting maximum points from Cheltenham visit
Ahead of the visit of Cheltenham on Saturday – the final home fixture of the regulation league season – Reading loanee Lawson D’Ath has stated that the Grecians are confident in their own ability to get into those all-important play-off spots.
The mood has been lifted even more around the camp after Bradford stuttered to a defeat against Rotherham – and after putting in a great performance in a thrilling fixture against AFC Wimbledon last weekend, the wheels look to be turning in the right direction again. The team are targeting maximum points from the final two fixtures, and D’Ath is confident that they can achieve that goal.
“We’re very confident,” said Lawson. “We’re only a point behind Bradford with two games left, and they’re playing Burton on Saturday which will be a tough game as they’re fighting for promotion.
“Anything can happen – all we need to do is concentrate on ourselves and hopefully get six points and hope the results go our way.”
Having played for the Robins earlier in the season – making his Cheltenham debut and scoring against the Grecians – D’Ath knows a thing or two about their set-up, their danger-men and manager Mark Yates’ style of play. With the visitors chasing a position amongst the automatic three, he feels it’ll be an open, lively game between two teams desperate for maximum rewards from the penultimate game of the campaign.
“They’re going to be the exact same as us – going for the points,” he continued. “No-one’s going to be holding back – everyone’s going to be going for it.
“It’s going to make it more open than it would if Cheltenham weren’t going for the points too and were sitting off.
“They’ve got a good squad – they wouldn’t be there if they didn’t have a good squad. We’re just going to try to take the game to them.”
With a bumper crowd expected at St James Park, Lawson is hoping that the supporters dig deep one last time at home to provide that fine margin of home advantage to the players on the pitch.
“We need the fans – if they get behind us, it’ll give us a bit of extra momentum and gets us going that little bit more.”
With a busy afternoon in store, get down to St James Park nice and early to avoid the rush and to help build the atmosphere ahead of kick-off. Normal ticketing applies for the fixture – buy online or just head to the ticket booths outside the ground – and help roar the Grecians to a much-needed victory.