INTERVIEW: Shaun Wilkes
Assistant Manager Shaun Wilkes spoke to Press Secretary James Kendrick on Saturday after the Long Eaton United defeat. “I thought we were outworked, outbattled and outfought today, which is not something that I think you could say about us this season. One of the reasons that we’re in the position we are is because we’ve been that team in every game so far this season, but today Long Eaton showed the desire that has been our trademark.”
“It’s disappointing really for the first loss to come in that manner, I just don’t think we were 100% at the races, so I’m bitterly disappointed but the best side won on the day. I’m gutted for the lads but as a collective, from the staff and the players on the pitch we were second best today.”
James asked Assistant Manager Wilko about the end of the unbeaten streak and what an impressive feat it had been. “It was a great achievement, and even the winning run we had, it just felt good and was great momentum to have, but the wins and the last minute goals, at some point, had to come to an end. We’re human and we’ll make mistakes, we can’t win every week, but we’re just going to keep pushing, get back to training in the week and dig in ready for Khalsa, looking to bounce straight back.”
“The players have been spot on and we’ve dug deep to get through a bit of an injury crisis. With the results that we’ve had people forget that we’re missing the best part of 60 goals over the past 18 months without Paddy Webb and Courey Grantham, then you we lost Jack York in the week, and the Captain for a few games in Reece Fyfe, who’s been our player of the season, and then the player/manager on top of that. It’s a lot to overcome and credit to the group of lads that we have, we’ve been able to stay focused and keep working through it.”
“That said, it was great to see Jordan Gough back today, who had been out for six weeks with a fractured cheekbone. We’ll hopefully have more coming back soon as well and that just increases the competition. The players have been great and have pushed each other all season and we just need to keep that going to get through to the end of the season now.”