Angered Challinor: ‘We were miles off’
SEETHING County boss Dave Challinor blasted his side following a drab 1-0 defeat at Barrow on Saturday - and warned his players that changes will be in the offing for the visit of Doncaster Rovers this weekend.
Josh Kay’s second-half strike condemned The Hatters to a first defeat of the month, with Pete Wild’s men ending County’s five game winning streak in League Two.
The visitors’ first, and only, attempt on target came in the 87th minute as substitute Aaron Rowe fired straight at goalkeeper Paul Farman leaving Challinor to claim that “nobody in the team” earned any credit on the day.
“I could be philosophical and talk about how we’ve won our last five before Barrow, but that’s not me. That was as bad as we’ve been,” he said.
“We were miles off it. The players were warned at half-time - I asked them if they were playing for a point because that’s just what it seemed like. Nobody comes off with any credit for me.”
Challinor had opted for an unchanged starting eleven from the one which had battled to a 1-2 win at neighbours Rochdale the Tuesday prior, and refuted any claims that the trip to Holker Street on Saturday represented a challenge too far for his side.
With back-to-back home league fixtures now approaching in the shape of Doncaster Rovers and Gillingham at Edgeley Park over the next week, the County boss warned his players that changes will be made.
Talismanic defender Fraser Horsfall, sidelined since Christmas following injury in a 0-2 win at Walsall over the festive period, may be in line for a return to the eleven this weekend, having made the bench in County’s previous two fixtures.
Elsewhere, Ryan Rydel, Jacob Davenport and Antoni Sarcevic may also be knocking on the door for returns to Challinor’s first team - with the latter also returning over the last week from a lengthy lay-off.
“One game too far? There’s thirteen games left. If it’s one too far, they should be telling us it’s too much for them,” said Challinor.
“I’ve not been as angry all season as I am after that performance. I’m not going to hide behind the fact that we’ve been great for the last month - we have, but so what?
“I’d suggest a few of them will be worrying about their places in the side now. I’m big on judging people off their last performance and that performance was nowhere near good enough and let’s be very clear, that performance won’t get us to where we want to get to.
“In terms of a reaction, that probably comes from us as a staff now.
“You’re in control of your shirt while you play well and get results. They’ve put that at risk at Barrow with that performance. Some of the side may well find themselves out of the side next week, and they would have absolutely no justification to come and ask me why not after that performance.”
The Hatters missed the chance to move into the automatic promotion places for the first time this season with the uninspiring defeat at Barrow on Saturday, but do remain in fifth place and just three points off the automatic spots in a congested promotion race.
The former Hartlepool United boss did admit he would “cool off” as the week progressed, and urged his side to get back to their best for the visit of inconsistent Doncaster, who’ve won five and lost five of their last ten outings.
“I’ll get over it. One game isn’t the be all and end all, we’ll be judged at the end of the season - but that performance isn’t one of a team who’ve won five in a row,” he said.
“We have that recovery period now, with a week between games. I would play tomorrow if we could, because you always want to get back to it straight away and put things right.
“Saturday can’t come quickly enough. We want to get better and we will.”