Long’s prepared to wait for chances
SEAN Long says he is prepared to bide his time when it comes to his next opportunity to get into the Cheltenham Town starting XI.
The Irishman came off the bench in an unfamiliar midfield role last time out at Harrogate Town and impressed with his steady showing in the middle of the park in a 1-0 win in North Yorkshire.
His cross set up the winner for Will Boyle to head home, and whether it is in his preferred right wing back position or somewhere else, he said he is happy to help and contribute to the team’s second half of the season.
Back to fitness after missing the first few months of the campaign, he’s also calling for the side to concentrate on themselves, starting with tonight’s visit to the Banks’s Stadium to take on 11th placed Walsall. Assistant coach Brian Dutton is in charge at Walsall until the end of the season following the departure of Darrell Clarke yesterday who has become Port Vale’s new manager.
Cheltenham are third in the table on 44 points going to tonight’s game (7pm) and Long told the club website: “It’s going to be a difficult game, they (Walsall) stopped Mansfield 1-1 the other night, Mansfield are on a good run themselves. Any game in this league is going to be tough. The conditions, the pitch might start coming into it now, so we just need to keep focussing on ourselves and make sure we have our own house in order and go from there.”
Meanwhile, Cheltenham’s county rivals Forest Green Rovers, who sit one place and one point above them in the League One standings host Oldham Athletic at the New Lawn this evening (7pm). Saturday’s home fixture against Barrow was postponed due to a frozen pitch but last time out Mark Cooper’s side won 2-1 at Carlisle on February 2.
The Nailsworth club is reaching out to supporters around the globe by launching the International Fan Brigade (IFB). In an annoucement on its website, the club said: “Last year, FGR were recognised by FIFA as the best example of fan engagement in Europe – and reaching out to supporters from all four corners of the globe has become a key priority for the club.
“With over a hundred existing groups of passionate fans across the planet, the club are bringing supporters closer to the club by forming this new initiative – welcoming fans from Australia to Iceland and everywhere in between.”
It added: “As a registered IFB group, you will be part of the annual end of season awards and even receive an official fan brigade stamp to use on your social media channels and merchandise.”