Andy Peaks Speaks Ahead of Sporting Visit

Wed 2 Mar 2022 - 10:53PM

Lambs Media caught up with Andy Peaks to chat about his reflections on his first 2 games in charge. “Saturday was great, but it didn’t teach me anything that I didn’t know about the quality of the players we have here. “Monday was different and I did learn more about them for the future. “They were a little tired after a quick turn round from Saturday, the conditions weren’t great and Hitchin were playing for their lives.”It is always a tough place to go, but we battled hard, kept going after we went a goal down and put in a shift to get a deserved point. “Ideally we would have rested one or two with 25 mins to go on Saturday to prepare, but some knocks to players prevented that. “We are 4 points better off after the first two games and heading in the right direction.”

Andy is keen not to get carried away; “We have made a start and are edging in the right direction, but the first priority is to get to a place of safety. “When we are safe we can look at what we can achieve as we build for next season.”

However, the immediate task is to get a result on Saturday. Bromsgrove and Tamworth are two teams at the wrong end of the table. “Sporting are a big club and like us are not achieving what was expected this season. “We need to prepare well, train hard and hopefully pick up another three points. It will be a hard game.”

One player that has impressed in the first two games is new signing Gift Mussa. “I did my homework on how Gift would fit in. “I wanted somebody who would not only perform well on the pitch, but would also not be disruptive, be good in the dressing room and play with a smile on his face. “He has put in a shift in and on Monday, although a little sore from coming back from an injury, he kept going and I was delighted for him.”

James Hurst has surprised Andy; “I didn’t expect Hursty to pop up with 3 goals in two games! “He has shown a real desire to get on the end of set pieces and on Monday he was really driving us forward from the back. “Although we have not had time to work a lot on set pieces yet, we have had some great deliveries from Bez and Clem and we are keen to develop this. “We need to be ruthless in both boxes - defending and attacking.”

Andy is pleased that some of the players injured are making good progress and may be fighting for a shirt soon. “How soon I don’t know yet, but the players who have the shirts at the moment are doing well. “But I have always said that we will need the whole squad for the run-in. “There will be times when we need to play a different shape or use different tactics. - all of them will play their part.”

The new Manager was particularly impressed with the Tamworth fans too. “The fans gave us a great reception on Saturday but for them to travel as they did to Hitchin on Monday was fantastic. “The noisy vocal support was fantastic which we really appreciated - it was great”

Get your tickets for the game on Saturday here