12:13PM, Friday 10 February 2023
Temi Eweka. Photo credit: George Beck
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Player/manager Scott Davies admitted his side were 'poor from start to finish' in Saturday's frustrating 1-1 draw with Dover Athletic at Arbour Park, however, the Rebels emerged from the encounter with their confidence intact after extending their unbeaten run in the league to six games.
The result leaves the Rebels in 18th, just four points above the drop zone heading into a tricky week of fixtures at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday and away to Chelmsford City on Monday evening, however, Davies is a glass half-full kind of manager and he's optimistically looking up the table rather than down as the season enters this next crucial juncture.
David Boateng had fired Dover ahead with a crisp strike past Will Dennis in the 10th minute, but Slough responded five minutes before the break when Temi Eweka looped home a header from Matt Lench's free kick.
Davies might have expected his side to push on and win the game from there, however, Dover calved out the game's better chances in the second half and the hosts were grateful to their keeper Dennis - and some wasteful finishing - for keeping them on level terms.
Speaking this week, Davies said: “I thought we were poor from start to finish. There were a couple of bright spots where individually, people did quite well, but collectively we dropped below the standards we set for the team. That was an opportunity missed because I believe we would have got three points if we'd have played to our standard, but we didn't. The positives are that we kept our unbeaten run going and have another valuable point.
“The crowd was good on Saturday, I think it was about 750, and we want those people to come back having enjoyed their day, but we didn't give them too much to sing about.”
Saturday's opponents Hampton sit a couple of places below the Rebels in 20th place and Davies accepts it's going to be a battle at the Beveree to pick up a positive result. The manager should have nearly a fully fit squad to choose from for Saturday's game.
“It's going to be intense, it's going to be a battle, I don't think the pitch is great at the minute from what I've heard, so we're going to have to be dogged,” added Davies. “The lads are capable of doing that, they can go to war for us, and we've got to find a way, by hook or by crook to come out of there with a positive result.
“It's one of those games that you just can't lose. Mentally, we're in a good place at the minute off the back of the six-game unbeaten run. Everything is in a good place, but we need to turn some of those draws into victories.
“The number of goals we've scored shows we have the firepower and we've only conceded one goal in our last two matches which is an improvement on what we had been doing.”
On the quick turnaround to play seventh-placed Chelmsford on Monday, Davies added: “That will be a tough game, no doubt about it, they're a team full of men. It will be freezing cold no doubt, but those are the games where you've got to go away and be difficult to play against. If we came away with a point we'd be more than delighted. We'll be prepared and we'll probably make some changes.”
In recent weeks, Davies and his coaching staff have overhauled the Rebels squad, with eight new faces in the squad for Saturday's home game with Dover. Re-moulding the team in such a way brings its own challenges and there's a sense that the Rebels haven't yet fully gelled as a team as they work to get to grips with Davies' management style. However, they have now scored 14 goals in their last six games and are one of the few teams in the lower reaches of the National League South table to be picking up points on a regular basis. While Saturday was a missed opportunity to put pressure on the sides above them, Davies is confident the Rebels can catch two or three of them and drag them into the relegation 'dogfight'.
He added: “I looked at the squad list on Saturday and there were eight new players that we'd brought in ourselves.
“We have 50 per cent of a new team halfway through a season. Everyone who knows football will know how difficult it is to make them gel quickly, but I do think we've made improvements in a short space of time and that is credit to the lads. That doesn't mean it's going to go swimmingly well for the rest of the season. We know there will be blips but we want to try and keep some sort of consistency.
“We're trying to look up rather than down. If you're a pessimist you worry about what's below you, but we're trying to look up and be positive and we want to get teams that are above us into the dogfight. The more teams that you can get involved in the scrap the merrier because it gives you more of a chance of staying up.”
Player/manager Scott Davies admitted his side were 'poor from start to finish' in Saturday's frustrating 1-1 draw with Dover Athletic at Arbour Park, however, the Rebels emerged from the encounter with their confidence intact after extending their unbeaten run in the league to six games.
The result leaves the Rebels in 18th, just four points above the drop zone heading into a tricky week of fixtures at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday and away to Chelmsford City on Monday evening, however, Davies is a glass half-full kind of manager and he's optimistically looking up the table rather than down as the season enters this next crucial juncture.
David Boateng had fired Dover ahead with a crisp strike past Will Dennis in the 10th minute, but Slough responded five minutes before the break when Temi Eweka looped home a header from Matt Lench's free kick.
Davies might have expected his side to push on and win the game from there, however, Dover calved out the game's better chances in the second half and the hosts were grateful to their keeper Dennis - and some wasteful finishing - for keeping them on level terms.
Speaking this week, Davies said: “I thought we were poor from start to finish. There were a couple of bright spots where individually, people did quite well, but collectively we dropped below the standards we set for the team. That was an opportunity missed because I believe we would have got three points if we'd have played to our standard, but we didn't. The positives are that we kept our unbeaten run going and have another valuable point.
“The crowd was good on Saturday, I think it was about 750, and we want those people to come back having enjoyed their day, but we didn't give them too much to sing about.”
Saturday's opponents Hampton sit a couple of places below the Rebels in 20th place and Davies accepts it's going to be a battle at the Beveree to pick up a positive result. The manager should have nearly a fully fit squad to choose from for Saturday's game.
“It's going to be intense, it's going to be a battle, I don't think the pitch is great at the minute from what I've heard, so we're going to have to be dogged,” added Davies. “The lads are capable of doing that, they can go to war for us, and we've got to find a way, by hook or by crook to come out of there with a positive result.
“It's one of those games that you just can't lose. Mentally, we're in a good place at the minute off the back of the six-game unbeaten run. Everything is in a good place, but we need to turn some of those draws into victories.
“The number of goals we've scored shows we have the firepower and we've only conceded one goal in our last two matches which is an improvement on what we had been doing.”
On the quick turnaround to play seventh-placed Chelmsford on Monday, Davies added: “That will be a tough game, no doubt about it, they're a team full of men. It will be freezing cold no doubt, but those are the games where you've got to go away and be difficult to play against. If we came away with a point we'd be more than delighted. We'll be prepared and we'll probably make some changes.”
In recent weeks, Davies and his coaching staff have overhauled the Rebels squad, with eight new faces in the squad for Saturday's home game with Dover. Re-moulding the team in such a way brings its own challenges and there's a sense that the Rebels haven't yet fully gelled as a team as they work to get to grips with Davies' management style. However, they have now scored 14 goals in their last six games and are one of the few teams in the lower reaches of the National League South table to be picking up points on a regular basis. While Saturday was a missed opportunity to put pressure on the sides above them, Davies is confident the Rebels can catch two or three of them and drag them into the relegation 'dogfight'.
He added: “I looked at the squad list on Saturday and there were eight new players that we'd brought in ourselves.
“We have 50 per cent of a new team halfway through a season. Everyone who knows football will know how difficult it is to make them gel quickly, but I do think we've made improvements in a short space of time and that is credit to the lads. That doesn't mean it's going to go swimmingly well for the rest of the season. We know there will be blips but we want to try and keep some sort of consistency.
“We're trying to look up rather than down. If you're a pessimist you worry about what's below you, but we're trying to look up and be positive and we want to get teams that are above us into the dogfight. The more teams that you can get involved in the scrap the merrier because it gives you more of a chance of staying up.”
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