“The sooner that we get consent with that planning the better” – Forest Green Rovers boss Steve Cotterill ahead of Wealdstone
Forest Green Rovers boss Steve Cotterill has complimented how well the new training ground has come on ahead of hosting Wealdstone on Saturday.
The new training facility looks excellent and is great for the players to use, but Cotterill believes there is still more that can be done to help improve it further.
“When you have got a facility like this, all we really need is the building down here and it’ll be magnificent,” Cotterill said.
“So, the sooner that we get consent with that planning the better down here. Then we don’t have to move off site, we have got everything on site then.
"The pitches are first class, we have got it just how we want it. It just makes it appetising for a game of football when you come down here, if you don’t want to play football on this surface it means that you won’t want to play football on anything.”
This weekend’s visitors sit 21st currently in the National League table, but have conceded a relatively small number of goals for what their position would suggest.
On playing Wealdstone this weekend, Cotterill said: “Just another tough game, we will go into it fully prepared.
"The lads have been in this morning and done a light session because we have got our third game coming up in a week, we will prepare for it as we would for any other game.”
Rovers have been blessed with their first set of back-to-back home games following a tough number of games away from home.
Having been now given that privilege, Cotterill said: “It does help, but then the fixture list makes up for it next week. It is relentless that travelling, as I have said before that it’ll be that nine out of 14 games that we have got that will be really demanding.”
Teddy Jenks was replaced early on in Tuesday’s game by Kyle McAllister following a knock, Cotterill said on the 22-year-old’s fitness: “He is not too bad, I don’t think he will be available certainly for this weekend, but not too bad so hopefully we have caught that one early enough anyway.”
Both Jacob Maddox and Marcel Lavinier were back training following slight injury setbacks. Having got them back in with the rest of the group, Cotterill said: “You want everybody fit, you don’t ever want anybody injured and players don’t want to be injured anyway because they don’t want to be stuck in a treatment room.
"They want to be out here and they want to be playing football out here with everybody else. The fact that they are training is always a bonus.”
Rovers have now played eight games in the National League so far this season. “The National League has been very good,” Cotterill said on the difference between the Football League and where they are now. “I think what you will get in the National League is a lot of younger players, a lot of younger players means that teams tend to run around a lot more, that is what I have noticed.”
Following on from Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over AFC Fylde, Cotterill said on the performance: “I thought we played well, I think that was the pleasing part of it. The goals were excellent, most of all it will always be the points, getting the three points is really important.”
Despite Rovers winning their last four games on the spin, three of them have been by just a goal. On the importance of getting at least two goals ahead in a game, Cotterill said: “I think that is the case with us at the moment, what we need to do is when we get a goal is go and get that second one as quickly as we possibly can and not sit back in the game and think about the game.
“I think that will happen for a little while yet just because they have not been used to winning and what you have got to bear in mind is there is still 50 per cent of the team here from last year and a lot of players from the year before. So it is very difficult to change everybody’s mentalities after a few games, it may take a little while longer, but they’re not doing too badly I don’t think.”
This weekend’s game will be the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides. Rovers would have been familiar with former loan player, Jahmari Clarke, but he was released from his contract with Wealdstone at the end of August having only played two games.