Follow-up win crucial says Ritchie

Mar 21 2008 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ANDY RITCHIE has no apology to offer if he’s sounding repetitive!

Town’s manager has spent the last couple of days drumming into his players the need to follow-up Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Brighton when they visit Bristol Rovers tomorrow.

“I’m far more pleased than I was after last Saturday’s game,” said Ritchie, referring to the 2-1 home defeat by Southend.

“We know that we can do it, but as I’ve been saying consistently, it’s doing it consistently that matters, and that’s an attitude we’ve got to instil into the players.

“We’re very pleased to have shown some character and resilience in beating Brighton, but it means nothing if we don’t back it up at Bristol.”

Ritchie added: “We’ve still got a lot of young players here that have got to do a lot of growing up very quickly.

“One of the things we need to learn is that when you’re on top of teams you’ve got to make sure you finish them off.

“We had a host of chances in the first half against Brighton but only put one away, and we could have ended up paying the price for that.”

Rovers midfielder Chris Lines says it’s crucial his side hit back after losing 2-0 at home to Swansea on Tuesday.

He refuses to rule out a top-six finish, saying: “We’ve got games in hand, and if we can win those, we could be in with a shout.

“We need the fans to try to be positive and stay with us.

“We’re a passing team, and sometimes you have to go sideways or even backwards to keep the ball.”

Bristol Rovers: Phillips, Lescott, Anthony, Coles, Jacobson, Haldane, Campbell, Disley, Lines, Rigg, Lambert, Walker, Williams, Carruthers, Hinton, Reece.

Town: Glennon, SInclair, Clarke, Page, Worthington, Brandon, Collins, Kamara, Berrett, Beckett, Booth, Young, Hardy, Broadbent, Racchi, Akins, Smithies.

Referee: Graham Horwood (Bedfordshire).