“Reinforce the Leeds win,” says Robins
Club News
“WE ARE IN GOOD SPIRITS”
1 November 2013
Mark Robins told htafc.com that the perfect way to mark the Club’s 4,000th Football League fixture would be with a win against Wigan this Saturday.
Town celebrated its 2,000th home Football League fixture with a West Yorkshire derby victory, a win that has made for a fantastic atmosphere within the group this week, according to Robins.
“Training has been vibrant this week and the place is buzzing ahead of a historic fixture in the Club’s history,” he said. “We want to reinforce last week’s win with a good result.
“Prior to the Leeds game we had been playing well but not picking up points, and it was important that we changed that last Saturday.”
Wigan has drawn a blank in its last two matches with successive stalemates, but Mark was impressed with the Latics’ performance when he watched them against QPR during the week.
“The fans pay good money to watch us play and we want to entertain,” Mark said. “Allied with that, we want to get the right result against a good Wigan team. I have watched them a lot recently and they have been playing well; they have dangerous players all over the pitch.
“Nick Powell is an outstanding player and they have a nucleus of players who have played at a higher level. We will need to be at our very best to get anything out of the game.
“The players are in good spirits and why not? We had a great victory over our local rivals and are taking on a team this Saturday who are doing well in the Europa League and played in the Premier League last season.
“There was a good togetherness about the team that played against Leeds,” he added. “The way the lads went about their jobs was first class. It bodes well for the games coming up ahead of the international break.”
Academy graduate Jon Stead scored the winner for the Terriers last weekend and Robins expects the striker to push on.
“He led the line very well against Leeds, but Saturday will be a different challenge for him. Wigan is a different type of team compared to Leeds and we will need to work out how to get the best out of Jon. He will put shift in for us, he always does, and he has shown that he is capable of scoring. We need to get him into a rhythm and on the back of his Leeds display he deserves to play on Saturday.
Keith Southern also made a timely return to the fold with a combative midfield display against United: “Keith knows the game very well and knows how to be successful in the Championship. I thought he and Jonathan Hogg were outstanding in the centre of the park. Duane Holmes also did very well in the first half, the occasion didn’t faze him.”
James Vaughan will again miss out for the Terriers though suspension, while striker Martin Paterson has a knock.
“He isn’t fit for Saturday, he has an arm injury, and it looks like he will have to undergo surgery along with Joel Lynch. Joel has a slight problem with his thumb, which he needs corrective surgery on, but it hasn’t stopped him playing. Both surgeries will be performed next week and Joel won’t miss any games.”
Robins has also been running the rule over a number of trailists this week: “We have three training with us at the moment from Dulwich Hamlet, Ireland and Holland. They won’t all be coming back in, but the Irish boy is here until Tuesday and he looks good. The young lad from Dulwich is only 18 and he has done well. The boy from Holland is going home, but again he has done okay.”
You can still get your Wigan tickets now or pay on the day at the DW Stadium - click HERE for more information!
Advertisement block