ALEXANDER EYES TITLE PUSH WITH AMMIES
Alexander hails Ammies resolve
GRAHAM ALEXANDER says Salford City’s reaction to a run of defeats that threatened to derail their title challenge has told him everything he needs to know.
Consecutive National League losses to Chesterfield, Dagenham & Redbridge, Wrexham and Barrow had many writing off their chances while the Christmas decorations were still up.
It was their first wobble of the season following a 20game unbeaten streak to back up the pre-season expectation that came with some high-profile summer signings.
But a 2-0 win in the festive reverse against Wrexham was swiftly backed-up by an impressive 3-0 victory at leaders Leyton Orient to start 2019 with a bang and haul themselves back into the championship conversation.
Manager Alexander always believed he had the right characters to cope with the demands that come with playing for a club with lofty ambitions – now he knows it.
Challenged
“I don’t think you really know the character of players until you work with them day-in, day-out,” Alexander told The NLP.
“You can see them from afar at other clubs and you might see them once or twice over the course of the season. But then you see them day-in, day-out and when they’re challenged.
“It’s great when we’re on a 20-game unbeaten run and everyone is everyone’s mate. But all of a sudden four defeats shows us what really are as human beings.
“I think the last couple of games have shown we’ve got good human beings in that changing room and at the club.
“I’m so pleased for the players. They’re a brilliant bunch to work with, so honest, and they deserve the rewards at the end of it.”
Alexander didn’t need to be told of the expectations on him when he walked through the door in the summer.
Salford’s Class of 92 owners have made no secret of their desire to get promoted into the Football League as quickly as possible.
Standards
But the former Fleetwood and Scunthorpe manager hasn’t had a career in professional football his whole life by listening to the outwe side noise even though he knows questions were being asked.
“I’m sure outside of the club a lot of people would have been writing us off and I can understand why,” Alexander said following the win over Orient that put them two points off top of the table ahead of the FA Trophy this weekend.
“Four defeats isn’t good by anyone’s standard. So we know we let ourselves down but hopefully we’ve identified where we did that and why. We’ve tried to fix that problem and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“If we do that and keep reminding ourselves of the standards we need to set every day then hopefully we will get more performances like against Leyton Orient.”