Shaymen caretaker calls for team effort against Dover

[FF News]

Jim Harvey will take charge of his second game as caretaker manager when his FC Halifax Town side take on Dover Athletic at The Shay on Saturday.

Harvey, who admitted that he is putting his name forward for the permanent manager’s role, is hoping that Town can replicate the performance in the 4-1 victory over Gateshead last time out.

The game was Harvey’s first match in charge as caretaker manager and he has challenged his side to a similar performance, he said:

“It was a tremendous result, quite frankly it was unexpected but the result was truly terrific. What encouraged me was the way the boys plays, it was a proper team performance, they were solid from start to finish really.

“They took on board the instructions that were given to them and they all did their jobs and you ask ‘why can’t they do that every week?’ well let’s hope they can and reproduce.

“They have all done it in 90 minutes, you might say that Gateshead are on a down but they have done their jobs and you can only play what is put in front of you, the challenge is now to reproduce that.”

The win was only The Shaymen’s third victory of the season and the result came on the back of a 6-3 defeat against Braintree. Saturday’s opponents Dover find themselves third in the league after winning six of their last ten games leaving them four points off top spot. Harvey, however, insisted that he isn’t concerned about the other teams in the league, he added:

“I am not that bothered about anybody else in the league, I never have been on the opposition that much. What I am more interested in is whether these boys can turn out and give the same performance they did last Saturday, that’s my only concern really.

“Whatever Dover turn up with and whatever they do, it is only a secondary thought and I will be concentrating on doing everything I can and making sure they can reproduce that.”

A win for Town could see them move off bottom place with only a point separating them and Kidderminster. A stat that is convincing for The Shaymen faithful is that no team 11 places above them has scored more goals than Town and a with another stable defensive performance against Dover then Town could find themselves in reach of safety. Harvey said:

“They should be confident now that they can do it, individually they all put a shift in but collectively as a squad, everybody worked well within that team and they need to find that team play again because that’s what it’s all about, it’s all about team play.”

Although delighted with the opportunity of getting a shot at managing the side, Harvey still remains disappointed that Darren Kelly departed the club and admits he feels he has let down his fellow colleague.

“It’s disappointing that Darren (Kelly) has lost his job because I came here to work for Darren and in some ways perhaps I have let him down because he was the one with the inexperience and he has lost his job very quickly.” Said Kelly, he then went on to add:

“What I do know is that this is football and in regards to getting on with the job, this is what I have done since I left school really. Footballs in my blood, I have been through all these scenarios before and it is just a case of getting on with it and that’s what we have to do.

Source: www.halifaxafc.co.uk

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