Western Daily Press (Saturday)
‘Staying up would be my biggest triumph’
DARRELL Clarke has enjoyed five promotions as a football manager – but he insists that keeping Cheltenham Town in Sky Bet League One this season would be his biggest achievement yet.
The Robins play their final match of the campaign at Stevenage this afternoon knowing they must win to have any chance of staying up.
Three points would keep their half of the bargain, although they are relying on Burton failing to win at Fleetwood and/or Cambridge losing at Port Vale, with Fleetwood and Vale already relegated themselves.
Clarke took charge at the end of September, when Cheltenham had one point to their name, failing to score in their opening ten matches – a new EFL record from the start of a campaign.
His first game ended in a dismal 2-0 home defeat by Fleetwood, but since then he has overseen a steady and significant improvement, making what had seemed improbable now a distinct possibility.
“It’d be my biggest achievement,” Clarke said. “When you look at the circumstances, I came into a team massively lacking confidence, no goals, the club was on a downward spiral, with no connection between the fans and the players.
“That’s what happens when you are on such a disastrous run, so it’d be my biggest achievement because of that.”
Cheltenham have never spent four successive seasons at League One level, so if they do climb out of the bottom four when it matters most, after 256 consecutive days in the drop zone, it would make club history.
“To get to the final game still with the opportunity to stay in League One is testament to the hard work of the players,” Clarke said. “We have fought and we have had to keep fighting. Now we have to go to the last game and fight to the end.”
Cheltenham put on a fine display against a weakened Peterborough side on Tuesday, winning 2-0 to take their survival bid to the wire.
Stevenage are under the interim management of Alex Revell, following the departure of Steve Evans to Rotherham United last week.
Clarke’s side will be backed by around 1,200 travelling fans at the Lamex Stadium, where kick-off is the earlier time of 12.30pm.
“Anything can happen in injury time, in the last minute of games, or the last minute of seasons,” Clarke said. “We have to make sure we do our job, which is tough enough on its own, then we need that little bit of luck elsewhere.
“We’ll give it our best shot and we have to believe we can do it. I thank everyone who has bought a ticket and let’s get the place bouncing, with a really good atmosphere. The players know what’s at stake, but we have to be controlled and composed in the right areas of the game and not let the occasion get to us.”