Shots players told to ‘take a look in mirror’
MANAGER TOMMY SEEKS HONESTY AFTER ONE POINT OVER EASTER
TOMMY WIDDRINGTON has urged his Aldershot Town players to “take a look in the mirror and be a little bit more honest with themselves” after taking just one point from two games over the Easter weekend.
The Shots were thumped 4-0 at Maidenhead United on a not-very Good Friday before they drew 1-1 at home to Dorking Wanderers on Easter Monday.
It leaves the Shots seventh in the National League table but with Halifax Town, who are three points behind but with two games in hand, breathing down their necks.
And while Widdrington praised the performance of Dorking Wanderers goalkeeper Harrison Male, he admitted he didn’t get quite the reaction he had hoped against the Surrey side following Friday’s mauling - telling his players “if they want to get out the car, they can”.
“[Male] has to be given huge credit but that said, the amount of chances and the kind of chances we had, I felt we should have put the game to bed in the first half,” he said.
“I’ve got to be pleased because I was quite scathing of the lads after the game on Friday and they have given me a good reaction. We have come out the traps fast and scored before the time that Maidenhead scored on Friday.
“But the disappointing thing, or frustrating thing, is we didn’t build on it. I thought in the first 15 or 20 minutes our shape, our patterns of play, our decisions and choices were really good but maybe one or two like the spotlight more than the others. I’ve said it before but average teams play with each other and elite teams play for each other.
“Just on occasions over the past few weeks, one or two have thought themselves higher than this situation and they are not. And they have been told that. In the right way.
“At the end of the day, they deserve all the accolades in the world for turning it from when I stood here last year about this time to now, but you don’t get a medal for that - that’s your job. We have improved because we do things slightly differently but you have to keep going. The best thing about being a footballer is that there’s always another game to remedy things and our next game is Hartlepool, so we have our eyes on that.
“You have to give them [Dorking Wanderers] credit for managing to stem the fact we didn’t put them to bed in the first half and most of that was their goalkeeper and our errant finishing.
“Like I said, we have reacted from getting really royally beaten the other day and the players might feel I was a little bit harsh after the game but I don’t think I was.
“I don’t want to just be better than we were last season; I want to be better, and better and better - again, again and again. I want to keep going. I’ve got my foot on the accelerator.
“If any one of them want to get out of the car, they can. I have no problem with that.
“I want blokes to stand up, as young as they are, and it is a young group. They need to grow a little bit taller and a little bit stronger and fight.
“The two games we have had over the Easter weekend were against teams who aren’t full-time but they didn’t look any less fit or strong as us.
“So some of them need to take a look in the mirror and be a little bit more honest with themselves.”
Aldershot now face two long away trips when they travel to Hartlepool United on Saturday and then Gateshead on Tuesday.