- Chris Hargreaves irritated at refereeing during Chesterfield match
- Feels his side are in a false position and need a bit of momentum
- Says there are a couple of injuries ahead of the visit of Boreham Wood
Chris Hargreaves broke rule one of the Gloverscast at his pre-match press conference this afternoon, complaining about the officiating during last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Chesterfield.
While he admitted the poor defending was the reason for conceding, he said he felt the Chesterfield were taking freekicks ahead of where they should have been.
He said: “I was consistently trying to pin point where free-kicks were taken and they were consistently incorrect, I can accept two or three yards but I can’t accept 15 or 20 yards. It’s something (officials) have to be better at because it’s unacceptable, if there’s a free-kick taken 20 yards away from where it happened, that’s not good enough.
“I’m not saying that’s why we conceded because we didn’t defend it properly. There are rules in place for a reason and if it’s two yards, I’ll accept it and that’s irritated me to say the least. It’s a small point, but it’s a huge detail where you are talking about a transition of play which changes the dimension of the play. It doesn’t take away we have to do our job from set pieces.”
As Yeovil welcome 5th placed Boreham Wood to Huish Park this weekend, the manager said his side were in a positive frame of mind after Chesterfield, despite the disappointing set pieces.
“We are preparing for another good test against a decent side. We’ve had a good week’s training and some chats about the Chesterfield game and we feel in a positive frame of mind.
“You go through periods where you have chances and have to kill teams off because teams are dangerous especially from set pieces. The disappointment was there were several scenarios where we even concede the corner (from which Chesterfield scored their second equaliser) where we can affect the play and that was something we’ve discussed.
“To put these situations as best we can in practice, it’s different in matches than training but we have run through it a few times. We take a lot of time on set pieces and sometimes an individual can switch off and when they do it costs you. Even though they are riding high, we played well. That was us back to what I want from my team and that’s why I was so disappointed for them. What I need is to rely on people in those critical moments to see something out.” he added.
Hargreaves, who’s searching for his second win as Yeovil boss, said that Boreham Wood present a ‘massive test’ but that his side are in a false position in 19th.
He said: “We need a bit of momentum to get a run going and we know it can soon change. We feel we are in a false position but we are where we are and we have to deal with it.
“We have to make sure we are robust and determined enough to get higher up the league. We go in to every game wanting to win it and it will be no different this weekend. It’s a massive test, but we want those tests, we want to pit ourselves against everybody, but it’s a game to look forward to.”
One player who’s made a big impact since joining the club on-loan from Bournemouth is Owen Bevan. Hargreaves praised the defender and also squeezed in an Hargreaves-ism to keep the youngster on his toes.
“For Owen it’s a fantastic experience, he’s shown he’s got that strength and determination with a bright future. For now, it’s good luck to him but we’ve got to deal with the opposition and there’s players champing at the bit that’s for sure.”
Yeovil have a couple of unnamed injury concerns ahead of the weekend, but Hargreaves is happy with the depth on offer but admitted the club are ‘actively open’ to players joining.
“We are competitive with our training and there may be one or two that are fighting on the edge of it, but we don’t want someone to be a hero and be out for six weeks. We have enough depth for someone to come in and take a chance, but we are still actively open to players coming to the club. The lads know that, we want to be successful.
It’s touch and go but we have players champing at the bit. We will review it (on Friday) in training and a decision will be made.”