 Brought to you by DIS, keeping companies connected with cloud-based solutions. Come on, City! How's the squad looking ahead of the weekend? I understand that Callum Cook's had a scan this week, so can you tell us any more about that, please? Yeah, we had some disappointing news on Callum this week. After the scan, he's injured a hip muscle and he's going to be out for around four to six weeks. So as you can imagine, Cook is a pivotal part of this team's form lately, but we have to perform and make sure that we've got a good squad that people can come in and make an impact as well. Who's your obvious go-to man to replace him then? We've got a few options in there. We've got a variety in different players can suit that role in different ways, so I think leading up to the game we'll finalise that decision really. And very tough for you, tough for him as well. How's he reacted to that news? Yeah, he's disappointed. No one likes to be injured and Cooky's found himself in good form, so he wanted to continue that, but again setbacks like this happening in football is a good character and I'm sure he'll react and come back positive. And how's the rest of the squad looking ahead of the weekend? Any other fresh injuries to update us or people coming back? No, no fresh ones. Just Cooky's obviously been missing for a couple of games now, but again no one returning and it's looking like the same group of players in terms of the squad. How much of a benefit has it been then not to have a game mid-week and just spend a bit more time on the training pitch? Yeah, massive. The game schedule was Saturday Tuesday for a lot of weeks and we spoke about it in previous times where about fatigue and mental fatigue and sometimes they're travelling and things like that could cause players to be a little bit more tired than they would be usually. But again it's been great to get on the pitch with the players and have a little bit of a rest and then we've been working hard since then to bounce back in the next game really. I know you both talked after the Carlisle result about being more clinical. How do you train players to be more clinical and take those opportunities when they come? There's a coach, you're putting in them people in those positions as much as possible and repeating that action as much as possible and giving them game-like scenarios where they're going to find themselves in that position again and they've got to find the right technique to deliver the goal. Just repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until it's ingrained in there? Yeah and it's like saying you get your eye in as a player and you start getting that repetition and that consistency with your technique and things happen differently, things bubble, things get deflected as long as we're giving them that repetition to do it then I guess that's the way to improve it. His set piece is something you've looked at this week as well or do you not really have to focus on that because the conditions played such a part in the goals conceded at Carlisle? If you look at Carlisle's record in the last 10 goals I think around 7's been from set plays so we were well prepared in terms of the organisation and things happen, you probably couldn't see and I couldn't see from the footage looking the game back was the wind and aiming for the edge of the box and it ended up near the keeper so individuals have got to be accountable within that structure and within that organisation unfortunately we've got to put that right next game. Do you think maybe a bit of mental fatigue has been an issue over these last couple of games as well? Well I think the Carlisle game we underperformed but we felt as if in the Newport game we played really well it was just in the latter stages we kind of had a couple of decisions against us and they ended up winning the game 2-1 so I think parts of it are mental fatigue and I think it's subconscious that it's happening to the players but they're giving everything that's for sure. And I suppose when you've suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in a long time that's when you really see what the character of your plays is all about, don't you? Yeah and listen, we're all about character at this club and having the right people here and people who are going to work hard for the cause and they just want to get back out there and perform and make sure the next game's a good one. What do you make of Oldham? Is there in charge there a Keith Curle coming in to replace Harry Kuhl? So does that make them something of an unknown quantity? I guess so, he's had a few games in charge now he's obviously a very experienced manager we have a great career so we'll be preparing as well as we can to know what we're going to come up against even though it's been sort of a quick transition in terms of their managers but we'll just try and prepare as normal for that and make sure we give 100%. You've had eight managers now since 2018 when their club's new owner came in just how much does that highlight the impatience at some clubs and the pressure there is at all levels to deliver success quickly? It's football in general football's a results business and you'll be judged on your results and the way you're moving forward and if that's your philosophy and things like that it might be a longer term plan but ultimately you're going to be judged by your record so where under no illusions that's part of being a football manager An old and away felt like quite a significant marker for Bradford City earlier in the season sadly it might be the end of student recalls timers manager it feels quite a whirlwind for everybody involved with the club since then have the last few months spent for you, what you expected? Again, I've been asked this question a few times now and it's more of the they weren't really an expectation for what we were going to do and things like that it was cracking on and taking one game at a time and continuing working hard and trying to win as many games as possible we found ourselves in this position now with two losses on the bounce and we're just eager and the character within the staff and the players is just to go out and make sure we get a good result and that's what we're working hard to do with the exception of Forrest Green he'll write up that just looking at your run of fixtures that's coming up next couple of weeks it seems to be a lot of teams who are either around you or below you in the league so do you see these next couple of weeks and particularly over Easter being the defining period of the season now? You probably say so because of the fixture lists coming, getting less and less games so these fixtures will have a massive effect on how we're going to end the season but again we've just got to stay free of the relegation zone and keep pushing up the table if we can You're not really looking down the way now though are you you must be still looking up the way to see whether you can close the gap on those playoff places We're just checking one game at a time we're saying it all the time and that's just the way it is we've just got to get as many points as we can on the board keep working hard keep getting better as a team keep building momentum and see where that takes us In some ways then although nobody wants to lose games is it almost slightly helpful the last couple of results to manage expectations a little bit and stop everybody from getting too carried away with all? I guess so two losses signifies that maybe not playing as well as you were before again we're hurt by that we want to fix it and again we talk about the character and wanting to bounce back and that's the biggest thing maybe it has put a dent in playoff hopes but again we weren't focused on that we just wanted to win as many games as possible that's brilliant thanks Conor good luck this weekend thanks Catherine hi Conor hi there as we mentioned the league result away at Oldham wasn't the best neither was the Papa Johns or whatever it's called trophy game at Valley Parade can you use those games in any way or have things changed so much that they're really irrelevant? you've obviously got two two different sets of staff for one we've got obviously new signings and things like that and players missing on both sides for us we're not concentrating on the games that we played Oldham last because it's a totally different formation, different managers and overall different expectations so we'll just prepare as well as possible one thing you can say about Oldham despite their poor defensive records they do tend to score in every game which will give you something to think about that is in the pitch as well yeah exactly they're a good team they've got plays in there who can score goals and they're very creative and they'll try and pick you off and attack the spaces they're definitely going to be a big test yeah obviously when you and Mark first came in the team were on a long losing run have you noticed the difference in the attitude of the players to how they were then and how they are now after two defeats in a row? obviously straight away after the game you see that disappointment from Newport obviously leading for large parts of the game and controlling it and and Kyle Arwe we just didn't perform well enough to get anything and so I think what you can see from the players is that disappointment but that urgency to turn it around and again they've been first class on the training pitch this week and they'll be looking forward to Saturday because of the results prior to those two defeats they must have more belief in themselves though yeah the run you know the five straight in a row was magnificent this is how quickly things change in football you lose two in a row and there's different questions asked so I want to try and get back on to winning ways and like you say let's see what happens I think it's exciting because the players just want to put it right and what they've had at the minute is sat to choose the games but they've had maybe a week of rest mentally to relax and train and go home and relax a little bit more and not travel as much but we're certainly not looking for any excuses okay thanks very much good luck on Sunday thank you cheers Hi there you were saying obviously about Callum not being there he's been one of the mainstays of the team certainly since you two have come in in that number 10 role he's been very consistent yes everybody knows it Callum was a fantastic player for us in the games that he played it's unfortunate but a part of football and I think it just shows the tough schedule that we're all in at the minute where the games are just so often sat to choose the sat to choose the day the problems that that can cause on the strain that that can cause on the body and unfortunately he's felt something in his hip and now he's been ruled out and it's a bit of a conundrum for yourself now because obviously as you say someone has played that role regularly and now you've got several contenders for that role but presumably no one is obviously all he'll slot in full time it's very much up the ground isn't it yes I think again like I mentioned around playing that number 10 there's different types that can play in there obviously you've got Evo you've got Clarke you've got Chaz there's lots of options for different reasons whether you want to threaten the back line a little bit more if you want to press a little bit more if you want somebody to overload the midfield and go a little bit deeper there's got to be different reasons for putting somebody in there and again if they're performing and the team's doing well then they could stay in that position for longer periods I was going to say obviously he's out for worst case scenario so six weeks that's probably about eight games isn't it yeah with the current schedule yeah it's about right and obviously looking at the league itself you know Oldham possibly sum up League 2 as much as anyone because sometimes you don't really know what you're going to get I mean it's you know you've seen again when the results this week I mean the Chilton result for example you know it's a it's a division that's you know the tables almost almost doesn't matter when you're playing you do get a few surprises when you look you look at the scores and Saturday Tuesday there's a few in there where you know teams who are below the people end up winning and you know it is the same at all levels at times and but you probably find at this level yeah there's a lot of teams beating other teams and it's a little bit up in the air and that's why you can't ever go into a game thinking where above them so where you know we're entitled to win the game you've got to you've got to go out and earn it and and that's you know what we always stress the players and that's their mindset that they have is is to go out there and you know feel that pressure to perform feel that pressure to earn the right to to play and to get the victory and as you say you know I think they're probably busting a gut to get a response because you know as much as they needed probably needed the break it's also been a long time to sort of chew over a couple of defeats yeah exactly and I think that the guys have enjoyed actually getting back onto the onto the pitch to train and the intensity levels have gone up and it's not you know match preparation sessions where it's a little bit slower and less intense it's we can be really intense with what we do so they want to put it right yeah that's for sure and you and Mark because you've enjoyed this weight touch it rather just sort of recovery and studying the next opponent sort of for the following day almost yeah it's been it's been great and you know the the social aspect that you get from training as well speaking to the players and having a little bit more time to you know to have those conversations whilst you're out there then sort of informal ones where you're just checking in on people and things like that and working on maybe specific parts that they can maybe improve their game you know it's great being on the pitch but we find ourselves in a situation where and it was more you know get ready for the next game recover get ready for the next game recover and and it was sort of in a automatic mode where people would just sort of doing it automatically knew what was next but it's been nice to kind of freshen it up and and do something different yeah best of luck this weekend anyway cheers Sam hi Connor this this might be quite a long answer and you've obviously talked about the attitude to Pete but what would you say that the main changes in this group of players from the one you inherited after that old game and I think the the options is one the the signings that we brought in and everybody knows we had a positive January where we felt that we got the players that we we felt could could help the team and improve the team and develop and the characters you know are crucial we always speak about the characters and and who they are and people who are going to roll the sleeves up and organize and and be accountable and responsible and we feel we've got that you know I can't really comment on before because I wasn't involved that we just maybe just watching watching the first team from afar and it'd be hard to say but I think from having the plays that we've got we've sort of looked to inherit and and take on people with good personalities who will work every single day to get better and how much are you able to sort of work on those personalities you know it probably feels like you've been in the job a long time but in reality you know not that long a time frame and how much of it is just about identifying the right personalities to bring in and impact the group yeah and I think your environment's you know so so important within that and that you know we've got a good environment here when people come into it into the environment from different clubs they have to fit in and you've got some really good leaders and characters who can sort of teach them and say this is how we do it here and things like that but and the plays that have come in have been terrific and the leaders within the club who were already here before are setting the standards and you know we want everybody a leader out there making sure that the standards are really high in the cultures as good as it can be just on the injury is there any concerns it feels to us obviously we speak to you quite a lot nowadays that Reece and Rhys Dortmund Reece, Bryce has done his injuries are taking a while to heal is that the case is that sort of just the impression from so many press conferences yeah it's the truth you know we've been sort of given time scales but you know they both keep having little setbacks which keeps them out for another week or so because it's so important with those types of injuries that you prevent them happening again because they can be quite detrimental to their development as young players so I think their safety and their welfare is the paramount of our thoughts and we're just going to make sure that when they come back that they're fully fit and ready but I'm not going to lie there has been some little setbacks along the way so you know we're hoping for a quicker return but we shall have to wait and see do you just have to trade a bit more carefully as well when they're younger lads who maybe maybe still growing maybe don't understand their bodies as well as you know say you know a lino back for example yeah as young players they're getting to understand their bodies and when they feel stiff but also when they've maybe picked up an injury so as time moves on and things like that they'll develop that understanding but also as young players you don't want to get them into a situation where they're getting an injury that's reoccurred and maybe makes things worse over the long term so you know we've got to help support them as well and just on Bryce specifically how much of that is done by your medical team how much is done by leaders medical team and obviously a lot of communication between between both clubs but Bryce primarily is with us getting his treatment but I think everything agrees in principle between the two clubs and in agreeance and you know we're hoping that he's going to be back soon and is that the same with Reese Helper that he's back soon I don't put words you know I'm not going to give you a timescale because it'd be wrong you know with me and Mark have maybe said two weeks three weeks four weeks for a while now and you know there's still not you know weeks away at the minute as in two weeks so we shall see but there's no promises that they're going to be back any time over the next few weeks yeah of course I wouldn't want to pin you down through a date after I've just said just finally for me I mean you're obviously still learning about these players as you go along do you think you learn more in a period where they've suffered back to back defeats for the first time you learn different things compared to when you're winning obviously when you're winning it's a different feeling and spoke about before just maybe complacency can come in but this group have not shown any complacency with the losses you start to see who maybe goes a little bit under but listen they've been terrific and they just want to put things right which I keep saying but bottom line that's what it is they've got desire to show everybody what they're about every single week brought to you by DIS keeping companies connected with cloud based solutions come on city