Posted by: Richard Lee 21/12/2008
Derby Disappointment But Big Week Ahead
We knew that a win against Derby would put us right back in the pack and fighting for a Play-Off berth, unfortunately we couldn’t put in the performance or gain the result required on this occasion.
It took a late goal to defeat us which is always a disappointing way to go down but, if we're honest, we didn’t really deserve to take anything from this game.
There were again glimpses of what we're capable of and some good openings were created but on the whole we found it tough to get the ball down and keep possession of it. It's always a tough place to go, though, so we won’t be allowing ourselves to get down and I’m sure we’ll be back on track next week.
The week itself had been a good one for training; Brendan is very keen on short sharp drills with a lot of focus on keeping possession of the football. It normally means the keepers get a good amount of time to ourselves before we are called upon. This hasn’t always been the case but is vital for a keeper in terms of going through the different techniques required in a game and also for confidence-building.
The sessions then usually progress to some form of shooting drill and quite often a small-sided game to finish. Again this is different from times gone by and from a keeper's point of view the shooting and small-sided games are great for general sharpness and preparing for what you are set to face on a game day. So despite not playing of late I’m confident that I’m still improving which is very important.
For a change this has been quite a quiet week for all involved with WFC. We, as players, were all happy to hear that Brendan has now signed a contract but that and a few transfer rumours apart, it seems that things are beginning to settle down and the talk is once again concerning the football.
A couple of tough games ahead in close succession and a very important time of the season - we know a couple of good results and we can put any thoughts of a struggle at the wrong end of the table to rest.
I wish you all a merry Christmas and will be back next week.