WE NEED TO CONCENTRATE

CLYDE manager John McCormack says the team needs to maintain its levels of concentration and discipline if it is to start racking up those badly-needed points and avoid the doldrums of the Third Division next season.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Mar 2010, 15:12 BST
Updated 25th Mar 2010, 15:13 BST

"When the match against Brechin started on Saturday, we did well, we went out looking for a goal and got one, but the second half performance was more about Brechin's attack. We need to sustain our continued good performance of the 90 minutes," said the Clyde boss.

However John feels the crowded schedule as the Bully Wee catch up on matches postponed during the winter's big freeze is not having too much of an effect on the players' physical stamina – it is mental focus that is costing them games.

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"It's not their stamina that is the problem, they need to concentrate for the full 90 minutes and convert the chances they create. There is no point playing well and not getting the rewards for it which is what is happening with us at the moment. There are too many chances we don't take, we need to create and take chances while keeping tight at the back."

Asked if he felt the sending off of Neil McGowan on 68 minutes, which allowed Rory McAllister to score the penalty which put Brechin 2-1 up, Cowboy said: "Brechin were already on the offence and while the penalty was questionable and it doesn't help to have a man sent off I don't know if it made that much of a difference to the overall result."

One noteable difference in the players' positioning on Saturday was Alan Lithgow's deployment in a more midfield role - this was down to McCormack wanting to keep his tactical options open, it seems, although with McGowan's red card it seems likely that Lithgow will be back in his more familiar position for Saturday's match against Cowdenbeath.

Lastly, there is some talk at the moment about Broadwood's grass pitch possibly being replaced with an artificial surface in the near future, with the board reportedly considering this just now. With Clyde's best performance of the season being on the 3G surface at Alloa, we asked Cowboy how he felt about this prospect.

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"The boys train on 3G pitches and while I'm not in charge of what happens and we're not really thinking too much about next season just yet, it doesn't matter too much to us. We'll just play our matches. A few grounds have 3G pitches and we're happy to play on them, it really doesn't make much of a difference."

Related topics:ClydeBrechinAlan Lithgow