Expect no favours from us: Challinor
DAVE Challinor warned The Hatters’ title rivals that his “relentless and ruthless” players won’t be slowing down in pursuit of a long-awaited return to the EFL – as an eleventh successive league win moved County closer to the National League crown this week.
Out-of-form Southend United were the visitors to Edgeley Park for Saturday’s late kick-off, with Challinor’s men romping to a 5-0 win in front of the BT Sport cameras.
Early goals from Will Collar and Myles Hippolyte set The Hatters on their way, with a secondhalf brace by Paddy Madden and a last-minute Andy Cannon free-kick sealing the most comfortable of three points.
“Things are only ever as comfortable as you make them,” said Challinor.
“We had a fantastic start to the game. This group are a really confident group, they’re difficult players to play against. We went and won the game brilliantly and showed a real relentlessness in terms of how we went about the last part of the game.”
Following the disappointment of the late 2-0 defeat at title rivals Wrexham in FA Trophy semifinal action, County also had to contend with knowing the results of their fellow promotion contenders by the time the Southend clash got underway at 5.20pm on Saturday afternoon.
One of those results came in the form of Wrexham grabbing another late winner to scrape past struggling Eastleigh 3-2 at The Racecourse – but Challinor revealed that his side are “not expecting any help” in his side’s pursuit of the title.
“We just have to focus on ourselves,” he said. “We’re not expecting anyone to help, and we’re not expecting any help from anyone. If results along the way go for us, that’s a bonus. We’re in control of our own destiny. It’s about us putting the performances and results out there.
“The flip side of it is that teams will have been putting the TV on for the late kick-off and hoping for a slip-up from us – but we were emphatic. We’re humble and we know where we are and what we need to do to get over the line.
“We have an understanding of what’s required from us as a minimum, and when you combine that with the quality we have in the group, we were really worthy winners on Saturday with a scoreline which by no means flattered us.”
Madden’s brace took the Irishman – crowned National League Player of the Month for March this week – to nineteen league goals for the campaign, now just five behind Chesterfield’s Kabongo Tshimanga, who looks set to miss the rest of the season through injury.
Madden’s strike partner Scott Quigley was awarded the Man of the Match award on the day, but Challinor refused to be drawn on individual performances – crediting the entire group at Edgeley Park for The Hatters’ remarkable league record.
“It’s hard to pinpoint individual performances,” said Challinor. “I would argue that everyone was a seven or eight out of ten, and nobody was a ten – which is great!
“The mark of a good team is not needing one individual performance to win us a game. It was a good performance as a unit and as a squad – and we just have to keep producing those performances.
“It’s easy managing the group in terms of winning games, but it’s difficult managing players who aren’t involved. I feel sorry for them in a way, but they understand that they’re an integral part of what we do – if we achieve anything come the end of the season, that’ll be down to the entire squad of twenty odd players, not a starting eleven on any given day.”
With just eight games remaining and County’s lead holding at eight points over The Red Dragons, Challinor also refused to be drawn on a specific points tally for his side to secure that elusive National League title.
A huge double header awaits The Hatters over the Easter weekend, with a trip to play-off contenders Grimsby Town followed by the visit of inform Solihull Moors on Monday.
“I think Wrexham can get 98 points, so that’s what we’re aiming for.
“But we’re not looking any further ahead than this Easter weekend – we have a tough game at Grimsby on Friday, and Solihull coming to us on Monday after going to Wrexham on Friday themselves.
“So, it’s a big weekend for everybody.
“It’s a massive compliment to the players. We’ve got into a real habit of winning games – we had the disappointment of Wrexham last weekend, and we said that this had to be the start of a new run which it may well be for us.
“We have eight games left and we want nine wins.
“We know we don’t need that, but that’s the target and these players are relentless and ruthless in their pursuit of things.”