Cirencester Town manager John Brough confirms his side are not thinking about what other teams are doing and are focused on just winning matches. The Centurions have only lost twice in the last 17 league games and currently sit second in the Southern League Division One just two points off the top spot and face 13th place Willand Rovers this weekend.
In response to whether his team have surprised him this season Brough stated: “No, I wouldn’t say it’s surprised me because we went through last year where we only lost once and then the season got curtailed. We only lost one out of eleven so were coming into the season with confidence so yes it’s good that we can be in a position to be fighting for promotion.”
Joshua Grace-Parsons is in fine form so far this season netting 15 goals in 25 games for the Centurions. However, Brough remained adamant that if his side are to win the league this year it’s not going to be all about goals.
“Yes, goals are obviously important to win matches but they’re just as important as the defence. If you look at most teams that win championships they’ve got once of best defensive records. That’s what we thrive on, we defend from the front and its good that other players chip in with goals as well.” Brough said.
“In regards to the Willand game we’ve got to try and win the football match, we can’t think about other teams and what they’re going to do.
“We’ve got six games left of the season and take each one as it comes and hopefully we can pick up enough points to win the league; if we don’t we’ll try and win as many as we can to try and get into the play-offs. Overall though there’s still a lot to play for at the moment.”
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It’s a big weekend in the non-league fixtures with it being ‘Non-League Day’ on Saturday which mean’s there will be a lot of emphasis on the lower league clubs and encourages supporters to come along and support their local non-league and grassroots clubs. Brough is a keen supporter of this initiative which was established back in 2010.
“I think it’s very important it’s the people who come through the gates keep the clubs going so the more supporters you can attract the gate receipts are better, the bar taking are better, the food kiosk does better.
“It’s also good for the players to play in front of a crowd and an atmosphere so we try and encourage as many people down to home games as we can.
“The infrastructure of the club (Cirencester), the facilities are as good as anything in the league and maybe the division above so we’ve just got to make sure that we give ourselves the best chance of being in the league above next year.
“Yes, it’s like any football manager or club, you want to manage or play at the highest standard you can that would be our aim definitely.
“Whether it’s a target we can achieve short term I’m not so sure but I think it’s a case of getting promoted if we can and reassess as then plan for whatever division you are in.”
Cirencester are scheduled to play Willand at 3pm on Saturday 26th March where a win will see them move a step closer to the illustrious league Title.
