[BFC SITE] Darrell Clarke Pre-Lincoln City Press Conference

Fixtures

• Barnsley Vs. Lincoln City - Sat, Mar 01 2025, 15:00

Reds Head Coach Darrell Clarke spoke to the media ahead of Barnsley vs Lincoln City in Sky Bet League One this Saturday.

ON MENTALITY


"It's just onto the next game, we’ve talked about it saying this is a big week, we’ve got two out of the three done but now we want to put in a winning performance on Saturday.

"The way the boys have dug in has been the most pleasing aspect over the last two games, obviously a derby game and then looking comfortable at 2-0 the other day, we gave a silly goal away and then lost Mael, but its good to see the resilience of the team over the past two games, its just a shame we couldn’t show that a little bit more through the course of the previous games at times because we’ve come undone in those moments, but the last two have been a lot more positive.

"Yes, game management is important, I think the lack of experience of winners, promotion winners in the group, sometimes you go through spells within the season where we haven’t been resilient enough through a little bit of adversity, and like you say the positives over the last couple of games is that we’ve shown that."

ON INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS


"It’s a three-game ban [for Mael de Gevigney], he’s obviously dived in. Mael’s an honest, honest player but I don’t think we'll get that overturned. We aren’t going to win it (the appeal) because his feet were off the ground, so we have to take our medicine with that, and we move on.

"We have different options, we can go to a four, we can obviously go to a three, so time will tell.

"It's good to get Max [Watters] back, so like you said with Clement [Rodrigues], it's good to have attacking options off the bench which we haven’t had a lot of this season, they can both stretch the back line very well, so that’s pleasing with Max getting some minutes the other day, he'll be working hard in training the next couple of days and hell be in contention for Saturday.

[On Jon Lewis] No he’s doubtful, the scans come back with a little tear so he'll be a few weeks.

It’s a frustration, but we have to get on with it, we’ve got about seven or eight players out with injuries or suspensions Saturday, but we rock and roll with it, that’s the way we do this, we don’t use it as an excuse, we get on with it and its up to the players to take the baton and make sure they’re ready and try to continue on what’s been a good week so far.

"No, when there’s tears in their legs shall we call it, they can vary, I say to my physio all the time manage the player, not the scan, which can frustrate me, so I don’t want to give time scales on these things, we want to get them back as quickly as possible, but obviously they’ve got to be right, but I am pushing my medical team to make sure we get them back as quickly as we possibly can."

ON JACKSON SMITH DEBUT


"I thought he did well, he made a couple of saves early doors, I thought the freekick was harsh, but he made a comfortable save from that one and then made a really good save from the next one and that helped settle him down. He didn’t have a lot to do, but what he did do, he did very well so hopefully he can grow on from it."

ON REACHING TEN AWAY WINS


"Yes, we find ourselves in a position with 13 games to go where we're playing catchup, so we need to try and win the next game whether that’s home or away. It's pleasing to reach double figures with away wins but winning the next home game is important."

ON PREPARATIONS FOR HOME CLASH


"It’s a mental thing, we keep touching on it but the fans give us a great chance to perform, so that’s all you can ask for from our fans, they get behind the lads at the start of the game and voice their opinions at the end of the game, and I’ve no issue with that but I know they’ll give the lads the backing on Saturday as they always have and we’ve got to produce, it's not down to anyone else, it’s the mental side of the game, we have to stand out and be counted and the players have to do that as well, so we’ve got to try and win the game on Saturday, and that will change the narrative."

ON LINCOLN CITY


"I really like their manager, they had a fantastic season last season, they’ve lost a few of their better players, but they’re comfortable in mid-table, they’ve maybe got an outside chance of the playoffs so they’ve got some good players and we have to be where we have to be to win games, I can’t take any game easy, the league shows you that teams can take points off anybody, so we have to concentrate on what were good at and make sure that although the last two performances have been gritty, determined and resilient, we still have to get better on the ball in lots of areas as well. We haven’t yet as a consistent got both parts of our game going as consistently as we would’ve liked this season, so it's an opportunity on Saturday to get that resilience plus quality going and show what we can do when we get the ball."

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