Boss previews Blackburn clash
Simon Grayson told htafc.com that he wants his players to be more ruthless in front of goal ahead of the visit of Blackburn on Tuesday evening; kick-off 7.45pm.
Rovers enter the game level on points with Town and with a new manager in Henning Berg at the helm. It will be the second game that the former Manchester United defender has been in charge of after the 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“It makes it harder to work out what system and personnel they will play as Henning has only been in charge for one game,” said Simon. “He will have his own ideas and beliefs and no doubt it will have been a whirlwind few weeks for him. We will need to be more ruthless than them if we are to come out on top.”
Tuesday evening will see the return of Jordan Rhodes and Simon is looking forward to seeing the striker.
“It will be nice to see him,” he said “We have seen him a little bit since he has left when he has come down to the training ground to play snooker with the lads. We know what he is all about and I am sure that he will receive a good reception from the fans. I am hopeful that he will be on the end of a defeat on Tuesday night.”
Reflecting on Saturday, Simon called the narrow victory over Bristol City one of the results of the season to date.
“You have to dig deep at times especially when you are missing three of your regular starters. It wasn’t easy but you have to give full credit to the players who came in, they did a good job. I thought those players did enough to warrant another chance. We will win in a number ways during the course of the season, but I thought Saturday’s result was one of our best of the season.”
Town were without strike duo Jermaine Beckford and James Vaughan on the weekend and the pair are still a doubt ahead of Tuesday night’s match.
“We are assessing them both day by day,” Simon told htafc.com. “We will see where they are on Tuesday and make a late decision on them. We won’t take any risks on them as we have too many games coming up and we don’t want to lose them for an extended period of time.
“Hopefully they will be fit, as it will give us more options. If they aren’t we will go with the squad that we have got at our disposal.”
He continued: “Paul Dixon is fine. He picked up a knee injury in the under-21 game last Monday, but he declared himself fit on Thursday. He contributed to the win and the clean sheet on the weekend.”
Anton Robinson made his first appearance of the season on Saturday after impressing Town’s Boss in training.
“He has worked hard in training. I think it has been difficult for a number of the lads within the squad because they haven’t had that much first team football. When they aren’t in the team they need to be trying to catch the eyes of the coaching staff. Anton has trained as if he has been playing week in week out and that is testament to his professionalism. The likes of Scott Arfield, Tom Clarke and Murray Wallace all fit into that category as well. They haven’t done anything wrong, but at the moment others are ahead of them.
“We have always stressed to them that they are only an injury or suspension away from being in the team. They never know when I am going to call upon them and put them on the bench or the starting line-up. It may have been a surprise for a few to have seen Anton come on, but he did well and contributed to the win.”
