FC Halifax Town: “I’ve got a team that never knows when it’s beat” - Wild praises the spirit in his squad ahead of Woking clash

The Shaymen are third in the National League after their 1-0 win over Sutton at The Shay on Tuesday night, with a four point cushion to those outside the play-offs, and with two games in hand.Woking are 11th in the table, two points outside the top seven, but could move into the play-offs if they win and other results go their way.

“They’re a really good side, one of the best sides I’ve seen this year, they’ve got some really good individuals.

“They’re quick on the break, pacy, and we’ll have to be at our best again to get over the line.

“But it’s that time of year, there’s 11 games to go, and every game’s massively important to us now, especially at home.
“We’ve just got to keep going.”

Wild is calling for calm heads during the run-in to the end of the season.

“Let’s not get carried away with ourselves, there’s still 11 games to go, 33 points to play for,” he said.

“The moment one of us gets carried away, we’re knackered, so we’ve just got to keep going, doing what we’re doing, keep churning results out.

“We got another clean sheet on Tuesday, really pleased. We’ll look back on Tuesday and say ‘that was an important win’.

Wild was unequivocal about what will be the difference between the teams who make the play-offs and those who miss out.

He said: ”Consistency. Everybody’s a much of a muchness, let’s be honest, and I include Barrow in that, but the teams that have that little bit of consistency will be the teams that get over the line.”

When asked what factors Town will need during the run-in, Wild said: “Patience, being switched-on, working hard away from here, sticking to the plan, not panicking and a bit of luck.

“I’ve got a team that works it’s socks off, never knows when it’s beat, and you can’t buy that.

“We’ve got one of the best dressing rooms in the league in terms of personnel - you can’t buy that.

“I’m looking forward to the run-in.”

Wild insists he would rather have a squad with more character than his play-off rivals instead of more quality.

“One million per cent,” he said. “We need winners now, people who are prepared to run the extra mile.”Look how much mileage the centre-mids, the wing-backs have covered on Tuesday. Jack Redshaw out of possession was probably better than in possession.

“I’ve got a team that is prepared to put their head on it in both boxes, and run around.

“I say to them every week ‘win more tackles than them, win more headers than them, run further than them and dominate both boxes, and generally you’ll win’, and we’re doing that.”

The Shay surface was showing clear signs of wear and tear during Tuesday’s win over Sutton, but Wild was pragmatic about the issue.

“The pitch is what it is, I knew that when I came here, and so did most of the players,” he said

“We’ve just got to learn how to play on it, but learn quickly.

“But we’re going to get used to it whereas teams will be coming here and having to find a way to play on it.

“Woking play on a carpet every week so it’s going to be tough for them to come here and play on this.

“It doesn’t affect how we play, we just need to be better with the football, not force it, play in-front of people and not boom it.”

When quizzed on the progress of making an addition to his squad, the Town boss replied: “We’re probably 50 per cent down the line. But let’s be level-headed about it and see where that takes us. We’ll see.”

And on the injured Michael Duckworth, Wild said: “He’s had his operation and he’s now in a sling for three weeks.

“Then he’ll start his rehab. There’s no rush with him, he just needs to make sure he’s ready for pre-season.”