Cheltenham Town Ladies manager Tom Davies has described the attempted transition for the new set of players settling into the side as a positive switch.
“It’s been difficult. Changing the leagues, changing the players, changing the system, and everyone getting connected and understanding that its been a learning process for everybody.
“We’ve spent a lot of time in the classrooms and on the pitch, trying to get players to build an understanding of each other and how everybody operates. It’s starting to come to fruition now, and we’re starting to add those final pieces to the puzzle. It’s been positive.”
The Robinesses have sorn up the league table since the start of the season, sitting middle of the pack at sixth place with four wins in nine games, Davies conveyed a sense of delight with this start.
“The fact we’re in the position we are now in sixth and we’ve got the points that we have, gives us a great foundation to hit our first objective which is to stay in the division.
“It gives us the ability to relax a little bit and approach the games in the way that we want to, as opposed to potentially going into the back end of the season carrying a lot of weight and pressure on us and the players.”
The team have made a bright start to training since their two week Christmas break, Davies described, which was emulated in their 2-1 win against QPR last Sunday.
“It’s been difficult playing friendlies, with the amount of cup games there have been. QPR was decent, we implemented some of the things we’ve been working on, and now it’s just about getting back some consistency and getting back into the momentum.
“Our first competitive game is in a couple of weeks, so by that point I’m hopeful we’ll have gotten rid of that ring-rust and we’ll be in a position where everyone on it, doing the right things and feeling good.”
Surviving the drop is not the only objective Davies has set out for his side to achieve, as he wants to one step further than the previous season in the cup, starting next Sunday against Crawley Wasps Ladies.
“Crawley are improving under Charlie [McCarthy], and they’ve had an upturn in performances. I think they played well against us in the last game, and that wasn’t too long ago, so we’re expecting a competitive fixture.
“It’s a cup game so anything can happen, which is evident by the FA Cup runs some teams have been on, so we’ve got to approach the game professionally.”
