Mark Atkins wants his Matlock Town side to take their second half display against Buxton into their forthcoming games starting at Marine on Saturday.
He shared the travelling fans' frustration and disappointment that their unbeaten run ended at the eighth time of asking with a 1-0 defeat at struggling Frickley last weekend, and he was unhappy with the Gladiators' first half display in Tuesday's home derby with the Bucks.
But after some carefully chosen words at half time on Tuesday, Matlock responded with a much better display as Ross Hannah's 25th goal of the season cancelled out Mark Reed's first half strike.
"I said my piece at half time,let's say there were some strong words said" Atkins revealed. "We'd let Buxton boss the game and bully us in the first half. Our desire levels weren't good. Buxton were first to every ball in both boxes which kept putting us under pressure. We couldn't kep hold of the ball. Eventually when we got the ball down and played we began to open them up. I thought we were magnificent in the second half. We had three or four good chances and Buxton's keeper made some very good saves. We deserved the equaliser for in the second half we played as we had been doing in the good run and it's something we've got to carry on. For their goal we had three chances to block but we didn't and that's very disappointing, but we've defended better over the last few weeks. We fought back well and actually the lads are disappointed as they felt the game was there to be won, but that second half performance gives us a lot of encouragement."
Atkins said that defeat was hard to take at Frickley.
"We had three good chances in the first half, and if we'd gone in front, I'm very confident we'd have won. We fully deserved at least a point, the penalty decision was disappointing. It was definitely dubious, but it's gone now and there's nothing we can do about it. However we didn't play as well as we'd done recently, it as our worst performance in the last five or so weeks. Frickley defended very well, and played the offside trap very very well catching us out a lot. We should have done better against it. We missed the killer instinct in the final third and we were a bit lacksadaisical and a bit off it. But players are battling through with knocks in what is a very tight schedule with a lot of games, so some are playing when not 100% fit."
A number of Gladiators are "carrying knocks" ahead of the Marine trip which is followed by a potentially thrilling visit from FC United of Manchester on Tuesday evening. Full back Lee Featherstone serves the final game of his three match ban on Saturday, leaving him free for a possible return against the Rebels.
"These will be another two tough games" Atkins warned. Marine's always a hard place to go to while FC United's a big game for us all. There'll hopefully be a good crowd. FC United like to pass the ball so it should be a good footballing game, but we'll be looking for the three points here at home as we've generally done very well at home during the past few months.
Matlock will be looking for their third league double of the season on Merseyside as goals from Steve Warne, Gareth Davies (now at Boston United) and Dene Cropper earned them a 3-0 win at Causeway Lane in November, The Gladiators have yet to face FC United.,
Atkins says he has stressed to his squad the importance of keeping going, even if a play off tilt is now very remote.
"We can't let the season peter out, we've got to get as many points as we can even if the play offs are a little too far for us'he insisted. 'When we look at the gameswe've got left we can win every game but we know that we probably won't, But it's a matter of getting our game plan right. All of the squad will be used from now on and it's a great opportunity for people to show me what they can do. Nathan Benger's a case in point. He's come on tonight and was excellent and stands a great chance of being included in the side on Saturday.'
One player who will be forced to wait for his chance though is yoiungster Darren Cartwright who was involved in a road accident in Matlock Bath on his way home from training last Thursday night. Cartwright's car left the road and collided with a wall on the main A6 near to the Pavilion. The road was closed for two hours while the emergency services cut him free before he was taken to Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
'I was very lucky and I'd like to thank everyone who looked after me and helped me on the night. I've got cuts and bruises and sometimes I feel a bit dizzy' Cartwright said. He watched the Buxton game after being discharged on Friday night.
'Things could have been a lot worse' Atkins added. 'We're just thankful that Darren got out in one piece and we're looking forward to having him back in the squad involved when he's well and truly ready.'
