‘Positive attitude’ will be vital for relegation clash

SWINDON Town assistant manager Tommy Wright says a positive mindset will vital for tonight’s crucial relegation clash at bottom-of-the-table side Rochdale (7pm).

Town, with 37 points, are two points from safety one and place above their hosts who have 33 points but who also have a game in hand over the Wiltshire side.

Swindon will be looking to bounce back from the weekend’s 3-0 home defeat at the hands of high-flying Peterborough United and will be eager to get a result ahead of another potentially pivotal clash against fellow relegation battlers, 20th-placed AFC Wimbledon, this coming weekend.

Speaking at yesterday’s pre-match press conference, Wright said of the Peterborough defeat: “We started quite well but the first two goals were really poor on our part. It’s gone now, we have to look forward now. Had a good chat among ourselves to say ‘look, we’re still in with a chance, but we need results’”

Of tonight’s opposition, he said: “They press high up and play with energy. Had some good results (Lincoln win, Peterborough draw) so we’re not taking them lightly. We have to tighten up at the back, but we have the quality to hurt them.”

He added that Town trained positively yesterday, and must take that mood into this evening’s encounter.

Also at yesterday’s press conference was midfielder Jordan Garrick, above, who feels the side are not too far off finding some form. He said: “I feel like we look like a good team. We need to capitalise on those periods where we’re playing well more often.

“It’s not like the team isn’t playing well. There are just little spells that hurt us. If we concede, we need to reset and go again. We can’t let all hell break loose.

“There are a lot of individually good players. Sometimes we need a bit of luck too, but we need to take responsibility for our actions and we can change our own fate.

“It’s a good mix of players here. We’ve got older players who have been through this before, and we’ve got younger players who bring the energy. We feed off the older players too - together we need to believe in our ability more.”

Wright is expecting to make late decisions on the fitness of Paul Caddis and Brett Pitman. On other injuries, Wright said Rob Hunt was still a little bit off, but Jordan Lyden was back in full training. Mathieu Baudry is back training but may take a while to get back up to speed. Dion

Conroy is due to have surgery on an injury next week.

Yeovil Town’s Vanarama National League match at Huish Park tonight against Maidenhead United has been postponed.