Following County’s opening day 2-0 victory at Edgeley Park, which manager Dave Challinor described as ‘the best possible start’, he is now hopeful his side can carry momentum into Saturday’s game with Blackpool.
In his latest pre-match interview, the manager praised his side’s performance last week and is looking forward to seeing how they will manage against a Blackpool side that narrowly missed out on a playoff position last season. He also thanked the fans for their continued support.
“We’ve been really fortunate to be backed in numbers when we’ve gone away from home, at lots and lots of places, most places to be fair, and tomorrow will be no different.
“I’m sure the supporters will have a great day but for us, it’s about performing on the pitch. [It’s a] really good opportunity for us to benchmark ourselves, because Blackpool were in and around the playoffs last season and didn’t quite get there in the end, but they’ll be looking to do the same this year, so a good marker point to see where we’re currently at.”
When asked about injuries, Challinor suggested that Lewis Bate should be okay to feature on Saturday, despite being taken off against Cambridge, whilst Tanto Olaofe is expected to be on the bench after missing all of pre-season. However, Sam Hughes, who went off with an injury on Tuesday against Blackburn, is ‘touch and go’ for the trip to Bloomfield Road, but should be okay for next week’s match against Bristol Rovers.
The manager also gave an insight into his approach towards each match:
“We want to be front foot and be high intensity, and aggressive at how we go about it, but fundamentally we want to win the game. If winning the game means we end up being deep and we defend well and we stink the place out and win 1-0, then although that’s not where we want to get to and what we don’t think will get us what we want to get over the course of the season, of course, we’ll absolutely still take it.”
You can watch the manager’s full pre-match interview here, which includes his thoughts on the games against Cambridge United and Blackburn Rovers and further insight into his team and the upcoming match against Blackpool.
