Midfielder looks ahead to Accrington trip
City’s loanee midfielder Matt Gill is looking forward to the long journey up to Accrington Stanley on Saturday, and a chance to end the Grecians’ winless run.
Stanley were suffering a horrendous run of winless form early in the season – with no wins, four draws and eight losses in their first 12 games.
But the Lancashire club suddenly picked a head of steam in mid-October and took 22 points from a possible 24 in their next six fixtures.
As far as Gill is concerned, it is evidence in practice of the unpredictable nature of League 2 this year, and a big part of the reason that gaps are still yet to open up as we approach the mid-point of the season.
“I’ve played at Accrington once before with Exeter – it’s a tough place to go and play,” said Gill. “And their manager has got them performing well at the moment too.
“In the league this year, anyone seems be beating anyone. The lads at Bristol Rovers went and beat Oxford a couple of weeks ago, who were top of the league at the time. It’s a low scoring league at the moment, which really shows that everyone is beating everyone.
“Every week is an opportunity to go and pick up three points, and that’s how every team will be seeing it in this league. It’s about performing on the day, and putting into practice the things that we’ve worked on in training during the week.”
After a 2-2 draw with Bury last time out, City had a two-week break from football while the FA Cup second round ties were being played.
While it has prolonged the wait for an elusive win, the midfielder has been glad of the chance for the team to recharge the batteries and work hard in training to get ready for the next challenge on Saturday.
“We’re desperate to end the run that we’re on of not securing the three points,” he continued. “You would like the games to come around thick and fast when you’re going through a period like we are.
“But on the other hand, it has given us an opportunity to freshen up mentally and physically and to really look forward to the Accrington game. The lads are really hungry to go there and put this run to bed and get the win we’re looking for.
“We’ve had the opportunity to train really hard and work on a few things with Tis, so I suppose it’s been a good thing for us to have a break.
“We’ve done a lot of work as an 11, which has been good. A lot of the time we’re in small-sided games or working in units, but for the past couple of weeks we’ve done a lot of work as an 11.
“There’s also a lot of competition for places as well and having those 11 versus 11 sessions can spice things up a bit too.”
As much as anything, the overdue win would lift the spirits around the camp again after a pretty barren spell in the points column. Gill admitted that the players’ emotions are inevitably affected by the result of the weekend’s match.
Gilly continued: “It affects the whole dressing room – at every club I’ve been at, the atmosphere is always totally different on a Monday after a win than a defeat. And the lads are desperate to have that nice feeling again when we walk in on Monday, rather than the disappointment of a defeat or a home draw.