Match preview- Pete Whitehouse

Assistant manager Pete Whitehouse (Pep) previews AFC Bridgnorth’s trip to Wednesfield in the WMRL.

1 October 2020

@chaguejones

AFC Bridgnorth travel to Wednesfield on Saturday in their third league game of the season. The Meadowmen have so far picked up one point from their opening two games.

Assistant manager Pete Whitehouse gave high praise of the squad that he’s worked with since joining up with manager Graham Ward when the Irishman made his return to the club.

Whitehouse insists that his side have thoroughly analysed the mistakes in the two side’s previous meeting, in the FA Vase, which although they ended up winning the game, they did find themselves trailing 3-1, with 15 minutes to go.

On the fixture:

“I think the squad will definitely be up for it, they showed they have passion and fight for us in the game on Tuesday. Looking at the bigger picture, it shows how far we have come as a new group of lads.

“We were able to go to the league favourites and play them off the park at sometimes, Wednesfield will be an incredibly tough place to go, but we believe all the signs are there in the squad to come away with our first win.”

On ironing out the FA Vase mistakes:

“I’ve watched the game back and it’s clear to see where we went wrong on the day. I spoke with the gaffer and it’s now something we have been working on in training to ensure that the defence doesn’t allow teams to score that many goals against us.

“In the league this season, we’ve played two of the top teams and only conceded two goals, so the hard work at the back is starting to take shape. It’s important that we stop gifting teams the chance to score. We need to take the game by the scruff of the neck and be in charge throughout and that goes for the entire season, not just against the top teams.

“Let’s look at the bigger picture, we’re a few months into working with these lads and I am 100% convinced we will get it right.”

On scoring first in games:

“I think whoever scores first on Saturday, wins the game. It’s that simple. It won’t be mentioned how important it is, as that just feeds into their subconscious and will affect the way they play.

“We want the lads to go out, impose our style on the opposition and everything else will take care of itself.”