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Woods: Focus on a win

Friday, November 06, 2009, 06:30

CARETAKER boss Neil Woods wants his Grimsby Town players to put the magic of the FA Cup to the back of their minds and focus on the job of winning a football match when they take on Bath City tomorrow.

Town host the Blue Square Conference South side with talk of a possible upset on the cards after the contrasting form of the two sides in recent weeks.

But, while Woods admits the FA Cup is still a fantastic competition, he doesn't want his players pre-occupied with the prospect of a shock exit on home turf.

He is challenging them to build on last week's morale-boosting late draw with Accrington Stanley with a win against their non-league opponents and passage through to Round Two for only the second time in six seasons.

Woods said: "It's a very awkward game with the expectation that comes with being a league side against non-league opposition.

"But as much as we can we have to ignore talk of upsets and look at ourselves.

"Like any opponents, we have obviously had Bath watched to get an idea of how they'll play but it's purely about what we do on the day.

"The situation we are in, we just need to get a win and, without being disrespectful to Bath, they just happen to be the team we face next.

"It's still the FA Cup and, of course, it's something that still has a big attraction for fans.

"I remember as a young lad growing up that the FA Cup final was the only game live on television, so it was a big thing.

"Then, as a player, I've had some good games in the competition with Grimsby and hopefully I will be able to say the same about managing after the game tomorrow.

"But we have to try and approach it like any other game or we could get wrapped up in talk of a shock and put extra pressure on ourselves."

Woods is still waiting on the fitness of centre-back Rob Atkinson before deciding his starting line-up and may not make that call until tomorrow morning.

He is also debating whether to throw last Friday's last gasp hero Barry Conlon back in from the start after his lengthy spell out suspended.

There could also be a change out wide with Nick Hegarty still not fully fit, despite starting against Accrington.

Whoever plays, however, Woods wants a continuation of the hard-work that has been a feature in his first two matches at the helm.

He added: "Rob (Atkinson) has trained the last two days and is a lot closer this week than he was a week ago.

"He's still not 100 per cent so it will be a decision we make late today or even tomorrow morning with him.

"Baz had a massive impact last week when he come on and it's one to think about as well, whether to bring him back to start.

"It's another late decision – we'll see how he trains because it's easy to forget that while he's not been injured, he's still missed a lot of football and we don't want to rush anyone back too early.

"I think Nick Hegarty did a good job for us last week but you could tell he was still not running freely.

"It's great that players are keen to play but you have to be their conscience for them sometimes and make sure you don't risk further injury.

"I think the wide players have done okay for us in the last fortnight but maybe we've lost a bit of an impact going forward as they have concentrated on the defensive part of their game.

"We are still to find the right balance of getting the best out of the wide players going forward while not forgetting their defensive duties.

"But overall, I can't fault the effort and attitude of the players – it's been spot on.

"They've worked hard and we need to maintain that whether it be a cup game or a league match."

Woods:  FOCUS  ON A  WIN
Town caretaker boss Neil Woods
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