Below are selected highlights from Thursday afternoon’s press conference ahead of Town facing Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.

Lee Grant

Let’s start with injury news - can you give us any update on Antony Evans?

Yeah, not good. So it’s a similar injury to what he experienced earlier in the season — or pre-season, I should say — so we’re going to be without Antony for a good while. He’s in London seeing the specialists as we speak. In terms of the time frame … it’s going to be months.

It’s a real tough one to take for Antony, of course, and for all of us, because we’ve watched him work really, really hard to get himself back in a position where he can come and help us. We’ve had some really good conversations, Antony and I, on specifically that, and he’s been looking forward to being part of this team so much. We’re really feeling it for him as well, so it’s a tough one for us to take

Is there in any way you can legislate for that, or is it just really bad luck?

It’s incredibly unfortunate to be presented with that sort of action so early on into him being on the pitch in the game.

Look, he’s worked really hard to strengthen that area and that that injury specifically, and the injury is to a slightly different part of the ligament, and the old injury was healed and was ready, so the misfortune involved in that is incredible.

No Marcus Harness at the weekend either due to suspension, so it feels like you’re missing some really key players this weekend, particularly looking at the midfield. How do you start to approach the best option of getting all the right jigsaw pieces in the right place to be effective against Wimbledon?

Yeah, well, there’s no denying that we are, unfortunately, in a position again where best-made plans are out the window and we’ve got five midfielders that we’ve signed to the football club, and not very many of them available or fit. So yeah, we have to adjust.

We’ve done that in the past, and we’ve done that through one or two different avenues, and I’ve got my thinking cap on over the next 48 hours in terms of making sure we make the right decisions and making sure that we give ourselves a good opportunity against another tough team to go and do that. We’ve got options. We’ve got players that can adapt, we’ve got [David Kasumu] coming back who will be there or thereabouts. So we’ve got some options.

That second Luton goal on Tuesday night is a cumulative thing, there’s lots of players involved in that — but given some of the mistakes he’s made before, obviously the spotlight will fall particularly on Owen Goodman. Do you feel that’s fair? Does he still have your your faith in between the sticks there?

I think I’ve been pretty clear about the fact that I feel really comfortable with both my goalkeepers, and Tuesday night doesn’t change that for me at all.

I’ve got big faith and trust in Owen and Lee [Nicholls], and despite the fact I don’t want to be a manager that rotates his goalkeeper every other week, I’ve also made it clear to them both that the doors never shut for either of them. I want there to be that challenge and fight for both of them all the time.

So I want Owen when he’s playing to to have to play well every week to keep Lee out. I want Lee to be the best trainer and when he gets his opportunity in a cup of competition, or whenever his opportunities come, I want him to play and be at his level. And when Lee’s got the shirt, I want him to be faultless and I want him to keep the shirt forever and a day. That’s how it will continue to be.

So look, they both have my trust. Owen has my trust and belief, and the same goes for everybody. So when I pick a team on Saturday with 11 names on it, that 11 has my full trust back in the belief, and should have the trust and backing from everybody that comes to support us.

Dion Charles

We’ll get on to some of the bigger picture stuff in a minute, but just talking personally, how pleased are you with your own form at the moment?

Yeah, I’m delighted. As a striker, you pride yourself on scoring goals. I said when I come to this club that I wanted to prove to people what I can do — it just took me a bit longer than what I’d hoped. But I just needed to get that first one, and I said in the interview after I scored my first goal, wait for one, and they all come at once. As long as I’m scoring and helping the team, that’s the main thing.

You and Bojan Radulovic seem to be developing this really lovely partnership as well. Why do you think it’s proving so successful?

We’ve I think we’ve both got our the bit between our teeth. I’m sure Bojan would have been as frustrated as me from the start of season, perhaps not playing as many games as we want, but I’ve stuck professional, trained as hard as I can day in day out, practiced, and was quietly confident that when given an opportunity, I would take it.

That’s something that Lee Grant has talked about. He’s praised you in conversations about your work ethic and determination to just keep your head down and get on with it…that at times must be hard to do when you feel like those opportunities aren’t coming your way?

Yeah, it would have been easy to throw my toys out the pram and give up, but I’m in a fortunate position. I’m professional footballer and I’m doing something that people would dream of doing.

For me, I’ve said it all along, you can’t take it for granted the position that we’re in, and one thing I’ve always said is that I’ll always give it my best shot, and it won’t be through lack of effort that I don’t get to where I want to, I’ve had to stay patient, and I’m getting my rewards for that.

Would it be fair to say this is perhaps the happiest you felt since joining the club?

Yeah, definitely. You can see that the fans in recent weeks have sort of got behind me and Bojan and you can you can tell in the performances that we’re putting in.

Perhaps fans might not realise it, but they do play a big part in getting behind the lads, and it’s amazing to see the fans chanting your name — that’s what you want. Obviously having your family in the stand, through the really good times and the bad times they hear everything. So now it’s a much better place to come and work.

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Below are selected highlights from Monday morning’s press conference ahead of Town facing Luton on Tuesday night. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.

Lee Grant

Injury news?

It’s pretty early on still, it’s Monday morning so we’ve still got one or two to assess. We’ve come away in pretty good nick but of course it was challenging conditions and we’re into the stage of the season where we need to be mindful, so we’ll see. It’s nice to get one or two back into it but we have to make sure we keep it that way.

There’s one or two that are playing really good minutes currently that are probably doing that for the first time this season — probably more players than I would like, if I’m being really honest - but we’ve just come through a really challenging period for the squad in terms of availability.

So we’ve got to be mindful of that going forward, and look at managing people’s minutes and trying to keep as many of them fit and available to us for as long as we possibly can throughout this really busy phase.

Players that have filled in for injuries have done well

From day one really until this point, I’m always trying to have contact with the players and understand where they’re at in the physical aspect as well as the mental aspect. We’ve had conversations with Bojan and Dion around opportunity, and it’s of course a readiness to take an opportunity when it arrives, and it’s great that they’ve both grabbed that and are running with it currently.

There was definitely some frustration in there for Dion in terms of his own level, but at no point did he waiver at all in terms of his desire to be back to his own level and where he wants to be, and he has trust in the group and where we want to be this year. That was really refreshing for because he could have gone the other way, but he’s really stuck at it.

Bojan is a little bit different because he’s had to contend with knocks and one or two disruptions in pre-season for various reasons, but the rewards for his work have paid off. It’s no surprise he’s hit his stride and it’s a great example for the group in terms of rewards.

For Radinio, who has had to be really patient, going away with his international side has probably been helpful really. It’s disrupted in some respects, but it’s really nice to see him hit his stride and do the things he does more often than not and really showcase his talents.

I’m thankful to have big decisions to make on who’s starting, who’s on the bench. Not having those decisions to make has affected us. Thankfully we’re in a position now where players are coming back, the squad is looking fuller, and we’ve got some decisions to make…though I’m not looking forward to those decisions.

We can’t get carried away with thinking we can play same team every game when we’re in the middle of seven games in 22 days — I think we all know that’s not going to happen.

Important and tough run of games

We’re into the phase of clocks going back and games finishing in the dark now and weather conditions…it does require a different kind of mentality.

Coincidentally, that’s led to a different sort of phase for us as a squad as well. We’ve got bodies coming back and a rejuvenated attitude from results either side of the international break.

We know this is an important period and we just need to take that on now. We know the next challenge is coming around quickly and we head into what’s going to be another challenging fixture.

Sustaining a high performance level, the energy we’re showing, consistency in our mentality…that’s really top of our agenda.

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This week’s We Are Terriers podcast is rather chipper again after witnessing a fine performance away to Mansfield.

There’s a lot of love for that man Bojan Radulovic after his goal-and-two-assists performance, but he’s far from the only player to come in for praise after a real team performance secured an important 3-1 victory to kick off a hectic run of…

Below is a snippet from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference ahead of Town returning to League One action against Mansfield on Saturday afternoon. You can find the full audio above or in our podcast feed - search for We Are Terriers wherever you get your podcasts.

Lee, after particularly last two results, and definitely the Plymouth one in particular, how much pressure do you feel has been lifted?

Well, for me personally, I always try to retain a certain level of pressure about everything I do, because it’s healthy. And I really want to be primed and on your toes and ready, as it were.

But of course, in terms of the overall feeling of the building the squad, certainly you can notice a tiny difference in general energy, because of those two really positive results, but two really positive performances as well. So of course it’s important. We want to breed confidence with good performances and results that reflect the performance level as well.

So it’s always a help, but we try not to focus too much about, you know, pressure and external noise or tension, because we have important jobs to focus on, the roles and responsibilities to focus on.

Of course, it must be hard for managers these days, though, because with social media, particularly, you know your players, young men, aren’t they? So how do you manage that noise and the pressure that may bring whilst creating a different sort of pressure to get a performance out of your players?

There’s always an element of trust. You always have to trust the group that you have, because you have to remain committed to the internal idea and what we’ve all come together to try and achieve and do, and what we’re all striving for each day, and really that has to take precedence over anything else which may come in to try and affect or divert our attention.

We have to stay really focused on each and every day, each and every practice, each and every moment, and, of course, each and every game. So that is really where our focus and attention and energy has to be directed. It’s not easy. It’s easier said than done, that’s for sure.

But always, whenever I’m addressing the group, is always to try and bring everybody back to centre and back to what we’re striving for internally.

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With the international break upon us, the We Are Terriers podcast takes a look back at the season to date and what lays ahead over the next few weeks for Lee Grant’s side.

We discuss Huddersfield Town’s ups and downs, how the league table is shaping up in a weird season for League One, what could be behind Town’s injury crisis, where the priorities might…

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Huddersfield Town have given the We Are Terriers podcast some positives to talk about at long last after back-to-back 3-1 home wins over Mansfield Town in the Vertu Trophy and Plymouth Argyle in League One.

Across the two games, Dion Charles’ first goal for the club quickly became his second and third, Bojan Radulovic continued his fine form in front of …

Below are selected highlights from Thursday afternoon’s press conference ahead of Town returning to League One action against Plymouth on Saturday afternoon. You can find the full audio above or in our podcast feed - search for We Are Terriers wherever you get your podcasts.

Lee Grant

It feels like a very important game again on Saturday, there’s a lot of expectation to beat Plymouth. What will be key to getting the three points?

High intent. I think from the group, high intent.

Look, we know it’s an important fixture, but we’ve highlighted this week as an important week. So what we want to do is try and finish the week off in the style that we set about Tuesday night, and carry that energy and momentum and feeling into Saturday’s fixture.

We know that it will be a difficult tie course, and they’ll be in a situation where they’re really looking to turn their form around and wrestle back some momentum in their season — but absolutely, for us, it’s the highest importance that we head into this game with top mentality and high intent in terms of really going after the game.

Is it as much a mental challenge as a physical one?

I think absolutely is, but we know a big physical effort is needed from the group, because we are threadbare, we know that.

But in some senses, there’s the closeness and that tight group can bring some extra added energy and feeling to it. So I’m quite comfortable with that. I think the group are the same: they’ve all got their heads on, we are what we are, we have what we have.

I can see each of them looking around, knowing full well that they have to play big minutes and be ready for that, and we know there’s an international break to come afterwards. So it’s all hands to the pump and everything we’ve got to really go after the game.

Somebody that we did see make a start for the club on Tuesday night was Radinio Balker, who I think a lot of people at some stage would have thought unlikely to see him in a Town shirt again. How pleased are you with how he stepped up in that game and what can he bring, particularly in the absence of Joe Low?

Delighted for Rads, delighted. Not at any point has Rads lost the energy or smile that he brings, and that’s important in terms of retaining his sense of hope within what’s been a difficult period for him: pre-season disrupted, back end of last season disrupted, away on international duty a couple of occasions, and if anything, perhaps one of those international breaks came a little bit too early, but he managed to get himself some minutes and then comes back and perhaps paid the price for that a little bit over the last few weeks.

But he’s put himself in a position where he is able to be involved with us, and then, for me, a really assured performance and I’m just delighted for him, on a personal note, forget about anything else for a minute — I’m really pleased for Rads.

So that’s really good, and that’s a big plus for us, and as we’ve said, and sat and spoke as a group before this week…all hands to the pub, everybody be ready, everybody will be used, and Rads, there’s no better example of that.

When we look through the list of absences, there’s quite a few calves at the moment. Is there any particular pattern in that, or is it just one of those things?

It’s really difficult in terms of trying to pinpoint, but you have to look at everything. We can’t accept the fact that we’ve had three or four of a similar-looking injury.

So you have to look at pitches, we have to look at training load, we have to look at preparation, we have to look at what players are doing away from the football club…all of these things have to come into the equation. The difficult thing is, is that each player will have their own physiology and psychology as well, which also feeds into what’s going on with each and every individual as to how their body’s performing from one day to the next.

So it is complicated. We don’t feel settled about it, to be honest with you, we don’t feel like this is something we can just brush away. It’s something that we need to really, really dig into and there’s a lot of people at the football club doing exactly that right now.

We’ve been incredibly unlucky with injuries as well. We’ve had players running in straight lines on several occasions with nobody near them and breaking feet or doing knees and being out for four months. We’ve had people falling and doing shoulders. We’ve had the full spectrum of bad luck

We also don’t want to be as daft as to say ‘it’s just not going our way’ and ‘poor us, poor us’ — we also can’t be in that boat either. So we have to be prepared to look at everything across all departments to make sure we’re giving the players the best chance, individually, and of course, the players as well have to make sure they’re doing everything they can at their end. History will also play a part — each individual player’s histories and where they’ve been at and what’s affected them in the past as well.

So look, we have to take everything into account. But for sure, the club and myself were doing that.

Ryan Ledson

It felt like that was an important win in the EFL Trophy this week. How much do you think it was needed?

It was definitely needed. Good performance, lads getting minutes on the pitch, we scored a few goals as well...so yeah, it was important, important to ever get the feel-good factor back and we need to kick on from there now.

You got an assist for Dion’s second goal — how pleased are you for him, not just yourself, but as a group, to see him get on the scoresheet?

Aw, really pleased for him. He’s a top lad, Dion. He works his socks off every time trains and in games. He’s probably been a bit unfortunate and it probably would have been a burden on his back, but he’s got he’s got that now, and as long as your strikers can come and score goals, that’s important for everyone. The whole team benefits, not just Dion.

I travel in with Dion every day and he’s a good character around the place anyway. As I say, he wears his socks off in training, and every time he gets on the pitch as well, so it can only be a positive for him.

It just shows his resilience that he’s kept at it, and we all know he’s a goalscorer, especially at this level — his record speaks for itself — so hopefully he can find the net a couple more times for us.

Now it’s about sorting the league form out. Why do you think it hasn’t quite been clicking in recent weeks?

Could be a number of things. I think obviously, decision making is a big one. Obviously, we’ve had conceding late goals, the sending offs, there’s all sorts.

We know it’s been a difficult period for us, but we’ve got to try and stay positive and get out of that. We know the quality that’s in the dressing room, we’ve got the belief still in the dressing room, so hopefully that’s the dip gone and we get back to winning ways.

A lot of focus falls on you and the role that you can play in perhaps lifting teammates through difficult times. How have you found that responsibility in recent weeks?

Yeah, it’s a big responsibility for myself. Definitely, in the changing room I’m loud, getting around people and giving them confidence and letting them know we will be all right, we’re going to be OK, but we’ve just got to keep showing up.

We can’t hide away from the fact that just because we’ve lost a couple of games, we can go missing. You’ve got to carry on coming into work every day, working hard, and it’ll change for us — and I believe that it will.

Lee Grant has talked publicly that when the chips are down, he wants to see more resilience to be a stronger group. I think his words after the Wycombe game were ‘I need to see my senior leaders turning the momentum or or galvanizing. They have to do a better job’ — is it something that you’ve actually, actively spoken to him about?

Yeah, listen, I agree with him, that’s fine for the gaffer to say that. It’s up to us senior lads to get us through games like that and difficult moments, and we’ve definitely been through a difficult moment at this stage, but it’s about us to stand up. The experienced lads are big enough and ugly enough to take it on the chin.

But I’ll tell you one thing we won’t do is we won’t hide away from the fact that we’ve got to win games of football again.

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Below are selected highlights from Monday afternoon’s press conference ahead of Town facing Mansfield on Tuesday night. You can find the full audio above or in our podcast feed - search for We Are Terriers wherever you get your podcasts.

Lee Grant also confirmed prior to the press conference that contrary to what he thought on Saturday, Ryan Ledson is not suspended either this Tuesday or on Saturday, as the five yellow cards rule only applies to bookings picked up in league games.

Lee Grant

Lynden Gooch, first of all — after the Bolton game you told us that he came off with a bit of a tweak with his calf. Can you tell us any more?

Yeah, we’re waiting for the scan results still. He has been for a scan today up at Leeds, so hopefully by this evening, we’ll have some results back to see where he’s at on that.

Anybody else potentially back for either tomorrow night or the weekend?

No. So yeah, we’re in the thick of it right now when it comes to availability, and we don’t expect anybody back available over this next game block. We’re hoping that post the international break, we maybe get one or two back.

How difficult decision will it be on Team selection tomorrow, in terms of obviously wanting to win the game, but also being mindful of a very important League One game against Plymouth on Saturday and given the injury list at the moment?

Yeah, you’re right. Trying to strike the right balance is important, I think, for the next two games, because the obvious things that we’re managing.

So we’re trying to manage the form, which we have to turn and we want to turn quickly, we’re all aware of that. We don’t feel like continuing to lose games is where we want to be. So it’s an important fixture for us against Mansfield in that regard, and then, of course, a hugely important game for us — again, at home — in the league where the priority is really high, and we want to make sure that we can take maximum points from that.

So we’ve got to manage it, but what I will say is we’ve got a really small pool of players to select from, so it doesn’t leave us with a million choices to make.

Of course, we’ve got some decisions to make over two or three positions, but in all honesty —and we spoke spoke about this as a group at the start of the week — the vast majority of guys are going to have to be prepared to go across the three games, because that’s where we are and that’s what we’ve got. So that has to be the mentality for everybody.

What are you particularly wanting to see from your players tomorrow night?

There’s a real understanding and recognition from the group that the next two games are important for us, we can’t shirk that, and we have to take that on, and I think that takes courage. So the group are going to need bundles of that, and personality, and character, and, of course, the willingness to go above and beyond physically, because it is going to be a big effort for quite a few players over the next seven days, that’s for sure.

So we’ve got to take that on, we’ve got to have the right attitude and intent about us from minute one to minute 96 in every single game, and as I say, really go after these two fixtures, because as a playing group and staff as a football club in general, we want to make sure we turn this form around quickly.

It’s hard enough for you, because football is a brutal world, and if collectively, the players don’t deliver, unfortunately, it’s you that comes under scrutiny. Are they aware of that, and that it’s your head on the chopping block? So are they working hard enough for you?

Yeah, undoubtedly, undoubtedly. And I think I’m really reassured by the fact that we’ve got some really solid human beings in that changing room, really solid human beings that care a lot, care enough to want to come and knock on my door and tell me as much on the Monday and that they’re hurting, and you know that they feel like they’ve got to do more, and they want to do more for the football club and for me.

They don’t owe me anything. The players, we are here for them. So me, my staff, we’re here for them, and everybody at the football club, quite rightly — all of the work that goes on behind the scenes, with some fantastic work across all of the departments.

But we all know the focus and the spotlight is on the grass. It’s on those players.

I’m here to work hard for them, the staff, the coaching staff, support staff around the training ground…we’re here for them.

But it is reassuring for me to hear we’ve got a group that are hurting and want to do well for us and the staff and for me…wonderful, great. We just want to make sure we’re giving them the best opportunity we can.

As I say, I’m utterly convinced we’ve got top characters in there that will be able to find a way to get themselves closer to their their best level sooner rather than later.

Bojan Radulovic

Great to see you back amongst the goals, having had to wait for your opportunity…how determined were you to make the most of it when that chance finally came around?

Yeah, it’s been tough, tough, tough days for me, because when you’re not around the team or involved, it’s hard for a player, but I always try to to be focused on doing the right things anyways if I’m involved or not.

I try to do my job, do the right things, focus and when I get the chance, just take that opportunity. So now the opportunity has come, and it’s been two goals already in a couple of games, so it’s a positive one, and I’m just trying to build on that and just looking forward.

There is real competition for places in the striker position. You are taking your chances — as you say, you’ve got a couple of goals already. Why do you think it’s perhaps clicking for you at the moment and not some of the other strikers?

Maybe now it just it’s working for me [because] it depends as well how the team plays. I think the way that the team is playing this season fits me well.

I feel comfortable and right now I’m playing with confidence, and I think that’s also helping me a lot, because maybe I’m more focused on ‘doesn’t matter what happened in the game, just try to be as focused as I can, because the chance it will come’, like the other day. It’s maybe more about [things] mentally.

We’ve noticed this season, you’ve been a lot more physical in your game. Is that something that you’ve been working on over the past year or so?

Yeah, the last the last few months, I’ve been working on that since [before] I left to the Netherlands, and I’ve kept doing this since I left here as well.

So, yeah, that’s true, if you compare from last season, I think physically, I’m stronger and I’m able to, maybe to [win] the duels than than last season. I think that’s one thing I’ve I’ve improved from the last few months. So yeah, quite positive on that.

You went out on loan second half last season…with the change of manager, did that help you to have a refreshed mindset and be ready to fight for your place again?

I went on loan in January [because] things were not working quite well for for me and for the team, I think, and I just needed a fresh moment to just try new things, to see how it goes, and then back again in this pre-season, this summer, I was recharged again, with a different mindset, different mentality.

Everything was new, there’s a new coach, so it was quite a fresh start in the pre-season. I was looking forward to this new season, it was a really exciting one for everybody, but at the end, I wasn’t involved with the team in the couple the first couple of weeks.

But now it’s different. Now everything has changed, and now, I’m enjoying it — because of the minutes, not because of of of the performances the team has had — but I think it’s not too late to turn this around, and I think we will. Of course, we are able to do it, and we will, for sure, do it.

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Another game, another defeat for Huddersfield Town after they went out of the FA Cup in the first round away to Bolton Wanderers.

This week’s We Are Terriers podcast takes a look at where things went wrong in the first half before an improvement in the s…

Lee Grant

Where do you sit with the owner right now? And what’s he saying to you?

Think I mentioned before the game, me and the owner speak every week, so we’ve had the benefit this week that I’ve been able to do that in person. We are fortunate we’ve got an owner that wants to be here as often as he can be, and that’s good for me, because you get straight to the heart of where you need to be, particularly when you’re face to face. If not, we do it over a Zoom call or whatever. Anyway, it’s been good.

Look, me and the owner have spent some time together this week. As you said, we’ve done one or two [events] bits, but we’ve also done that privately, and we’ve done that along with our coaching staff. So normal procedure, but it’s important that we’re able to do that, and important for me as well, to really get a grasp of where the owner’s at and what we can do.

He’s very always searching for what we can do to improve, what can we do to help, and as I say, this week’s been no different than normal in that he’s he’s very much searching from me and for me: ‘how can I help you, Lee? What can we do to support you? How can we help these players? Have we considered this or that?’

So those conversations have been good for me, because I always come away from those conversations, whether it be the owner or Jake [Edwards], with another perspective. That’s important for me to make sure that I’m taking in as much information as I can to make good decisions for the football club.

So it’s not a case of you feel that you have to re-convince the owner that you’re still on the right path. Do you feel that you’re getting the confidence in the owner to continue on this path?

Yeah, very much so. I mean, look, the owner’s made some smart decisions in his career to this point, across various different businesses and ventures. Now, my belief is the owner’s made another good decision in terms of the direction that we’re moving this football club in.

What we’ve got to make sure we’re doing right now is trending in the right direction, and currently, our form tells us that we’re out of form, and three defeats is not the direction we want to be heading in, certainly not the direction that myself or the owner want the football club pointing in.

So it’s important we turn that around and again, as I said, for me and for the owner, we’re searching for everything we can do to make sure we’re giving the players the best opportunity. And of course, the owner, he’s always searching for those areas, where is he giving me the best opportunity?

Obviously, there’s no barriers for me and to my work. The owner has given me continued support and the guidance needed. So for me, yeah, look, the relationship’s been been a real big help to me, particularly over the last few weeks, I have to say.

You talked on Saturday about the senior players needing to step up and provide that leadership on the pitch. Have you spoken to your leadership group and asked them to step up to that mark?

Very much so. Very much so. And what’s nice for me as well is I have had one or two those come to me as well, individually, which has been good, which has been good.

You get a real sense when, when you’re on the phone to one of your players for half an hour, or when you sit face to face with one of them for 25 minutes, half an hour, 45 minutes — which I’ve done lots of this week — you get to take the temperature of the group. You get a real sense of the things that are concerning them, or where they want to be, or what they feel like maybe contributing, and that’s been a real help for me.

Look, I do a lot of that anyway, because I value that a lot. I like to be close to the players. I like to understand what’s going on with them. But it’s been important for me to hear some of those things this week, because they’re hurting as well. That’s pretty clear. That’s been pretty evident for me after speaking to three, four or five of them this week, that they’re hurting. They actually feel like they’re letting the football club down right now.

So look, great, because you’ve got a group that are disappointed and angry and want to be better for the football club, and feel the responsibility of that, and they’re also aware that we’ve got a spectrum within our group as well. We’ve not just got 25 senior leaders in there that are hardened and been there and seen it and done it. We’ve also got some guys that are in and around a club of this size with this level of expectation for the first time.

So it’s interesting for me as well to hear the thoughts and views from some of the senior boys on how do we help some of those guys, and how do we how do we pull them to where they need to be? And that’s been good.

I reiterate the important part of that is it’s nice that some of those lads are coming to me and really expressing their frustrations, and how they feel like they want to do better for the club, and they’re disappointed for the supporters. And yeah, they feel like they are responding…great, great, but come on, let’s go.

You talked on Saturday about the players needing to absorb information they in this part of their learning. How much have you seen this week to suggest that information has seeped into where it needs to seep in ahead of this game?

On Monday, you can see the group that’s hurting and you can see the group that is disappointed and frustrated, the same as I was, so important that we are and have been able to pick them up, first and foremost, but then really focus in on how do we take the learning?

Let’s not let’s not pay lip service to this. How do we take the learning? How do we apply the lessons we’ve learned, because we’ve learned some harsh lessons over the last five or six weeks in particular

Look, we’ve learned lessons from day one against Leyton Orient to the point where we are now.

But the real harsh lessons have to sink in, and that and the work that we produce during the week — which has been exceptional for the last three or four weeks, I really have to say, and I’ve had no no complaints with how the group are applying themselves — we really need to see the fruits of that, because we owe it to the supporters in the football club to make sure that we produce our best level more often.

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