FC Halifax Town: Boss Wild sticking to the plan

FC Halifax Town boss Pete Wild says it’s not a case of rip it up and start again after back-to-back defeats.
Pete Wild. Notts County v FC Halifax Town. Photo: B&O PRESS PHOTOPete Wild. Notts County v FC Halifax Town. Photo: B&O PRESS PHOTO
Pete Wild. Notts County v FC Halifax Town. Photo: B&O PRESS PHOTO

Town host in-form Barnet on Saturday before then facing Yorkshire rivals Harrogate at The Shay on Tuesday.

They go into the weekend having lost against Yeovil and Notts County, with performances well-below the exciting standard they had set during a superb start to the season.

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The Shaymen are third in the table, having won seven of their first 11 games, and could go back to the top of the division if they win and other results go their way.

“We’ve watched the game back from Saturday,” said Wild. “As I said on Saturday, I thought there was nothing in the game, one tactical mistake from the boys and they got in, and they won 1-0.

“It’s not a case of rip it up and start again, it’s just we’ve got to dominate the ball better, be better on the ball and look after it better.

“If we do that, we’ll be fine and we’ll hopefully get back to winning ways.

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When asked if he was minded to make any changes for the game, wild said: “We’ll look at the system, we’ll look at the players.

“We might shuffle things around a bit, but we might stick with what we’ve got.

“It wasn’t a catastrophe on Saturday so we’ll take a balanced opinion as we go into the weekend.”

When asked whether there was any fatigue among his squad, Wild said: “Everybody’s fresh now, there’s no fatigue. We just need to adopt our plan better.

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“We have a plan, but the last couple of games we’ve not implemented it well enough, and that’s why we haven’t won.”

Saturday’s game is expected to be too soon for captain Matty Brown, but he could be back at some point next week, according to Wild, who hopes to have midfielder Niall Maher back the week after.

Barnet are now six games unbeaten after they beat Aldershot 2-0 on Tuesday night, and have the best defensive record in the league.

“They’re a really good side,” said Wild. “I’m really looking forward to pitting our wits against them.

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“They come with a strong defensive record and they certainly come in good form.

“I’m really looking forward to playing them, it’s going to be a real tough test come Saturday, and we’ve got to be ready for what comes with it tactically, technically and physically.”

Wild has called on the Town supporters to retain some perspective after the last two results.

“I think the fans have to realise where we’re at,” he said. “We’ve had a really good start, results have not gone our way in the last couple of weekends.

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“It’s not as though we’ve been horrendous. We haven’t done enough to win both games.

“We’ve just got to remember that this league is a topsy-turvy league. The team who has the most consistency at the end of the season will win the league.

“There’s nothing between most sides in this league, so it’s going to be up and down at times. The nature of the league demands that.

“I wouldn’t read too much into that (Town’s last two results). I think we’re doing well as a whole over the 11 games we’ve played.

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“All we need now is to get back on a good run of form which I’m sure we will do very soon.”

And Wild believes the players are determined to put the consecutive defeats behind them.

“All players want to go and put things right,” he said. “Nobody goes out to have a bad game, we don’t send them out to do that and they don’t go out to do that.

“We just want to put things right and get back to winning ways.

“When we’re winning, we look a threat and we’ve just got to get back to doing what we do best.”