Manager Kevin Horlock reflects on last night's narrow defeat to Scunthorpe.
KH: Yeah, I thought the lads performed excellently tonight against, and let's be realistic, a Scunthorpe team that, in my opinion, will probably win the division. I know we've not seen a lot of it, but it's not going to be much better than that. And I think we matched them. Obviously, I think it took, or you could tell later on in the game that they were obviously a little bit fitter and stronger being full-time. But, yeah, the lads were magnificent to a man. I thought we defended stoutly and created a few chances, which on another day we'd probably score.
And then we may be having a different conversation. But I just don't want it to be, and already it's sort of feeling that way, where it's a little bit of an unlucky old Needham. It's not about that.
It's about us improving and getting better and finding our feet at this level. And I think we've done that game on game. I think we've improved and it's been a tough start for us. There's no doubt about it. We've played some of the top teams in the division. So we've seen what this division offers and what we're against. It's going to be difficult every week to get points, but we're moving in the right direction. And if performances stay as high as they have been tonight and last game against Southport, then we'll be all right.
DK: Yeah, like you said, we've competed with a full-time side that two years ago in the Football League, we've had chances. This could have easily nicked a point.
KH: Yeah, I know it's soon after the game.
I can't remember them having too many clear-cut chances. I don't think Marco's been called upon lots tonight. And obviously to be defeated by a penalty, was it? Was it not? I don't know.
Some lads are saying there was a little bit of contact. Were they playing for it? Yes, probably. Do we get it the other way round? I don't know. It's frustrating. It's frustrating. And I feel for the lads after working so hard to be done by a penalty. But it is what it is. There's no point moping about it. We're not going to be down about it. Our performance levels have increased and we're getting better. We're getting used to this division. And we've got another tough away game at Radcliffe on Saturday.
DK: Yeah, with Milzy hitting the crossbar, forced their keeper into some good saves, could have easily been a different night.
KH: Yeah, could have, but wasn't. So we'll have to take it on the chin, like I said to the lads.
We dust ourselves down. We still believe in what we're doing. We stick together. We'll train Thursday. We'll be ready for Saturday. I think it's one of them where we are slowly getting acclimatised to this division. It's definitely a massive step up from the league below. We've played the top teams within that as well already. So hopefully it becomes a little bit easier when we get to speed. And obviously we're not playing teams like Scunthorpe. So we keep working hard. We keep trying to do the right things.
Like I said, I thought we defended brilliant. Kieran, Dan, Jake and Tommy back four with Marco behind. I thought did unbelievable. They're a good team. Let's not kid anybody. They cause problems.
That's quite direct. But I thought we coped with it really well. So it's a little bit of a feather in our cap, albeit no points on the board. But it certainly gives us some positivity to take into games going forward.
DK: You made two changes tonight. Seth had his first start in this league, and him and Jacob came in and did really well.
KH: Yes. I don't generally make changes for the sake of it. I just thought it was quite a high output game, last game out. So I just thought of freshening it up a little bit. Obviously both were unfortunate not to start the game before. So I will put fresh legs in. And I thought Seth worked really hard in a difficult game for him. I must admit. He got three massive centre-halves, about seven foot. So he's always going to be up against it. But he worked his socks off, put himself about. And then obviously enabled me to make the changes in the game where I thought that could affect him. Milzy come on and nearly scored with his first or second touch. It was good save from the keeper. He's hit the crossbar. Jamie's come on and had a really good chance on another day, he scores that. So we need everyone as a squad. It's not all about just the starting XI. It's about players that are in the squad and come on and affect games and give us something different when we need it.
DK: It's incredible having a squad that's that big that players can't even get on the bench.
KH: Yes. That's the level of football we're at now. The game's thick and fast. We're obviously playing more games as well and at a higher tempo.
So you need bigger squads at this level. Dylan's been unwell. And obviously I can't have everyone in the squad, unfortunately.
DK: And moving on to Saturday, we've got a trip to Radcliffe.
KH: Yes. And I know it's early days. But six points, I think, are down near the bottom with us. It's still really early days. But you want to get your first points on the board as soon as you can. Games start ticking by. So it's a massive game for us. Obviously another massive journey, but we knew what we were coming into. It's not an excuse. We know what league we're in. We're all looking forward to it. And we'll be going all out to get the first three elusive points.
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