Manager Graham Westley looked ahead to the weekend visit of Brentford and talked about his preparations on a rare week without a midweek game.
The North End gaffer was able to get his players some extra game time with a training ground ‘bounce’ game against the youth team, whilst the rest of the squad worked on specific programmes of improvement, which has been a beneficial time for the squad.
“It was a good opportunity to get some work done,” said the PNE chief. “We had a good run out against the youth team on Tuesday, which was nice to get some minutes into those who didn’t play at the weekend. The rest of the lads did some very specific work, relating to their own personal improvement, which again is a chance you don’t always get when you are going Saturday to Tuesday.
“It [a week without a game] allows you to do more of the things you want to do and deal with more of the things that you need to deal with. It is always nice to have a bit of a breather, but we love matches. That’s what we are here for and that’s what you’re in the game for, so I am not going to complain about the weeks where we play Saturday and Tuesday, because that’s what it is all about.”
The team go into the game on the back of an impressive away win at Stevenage and the manager believes that the team are building some progress, but are well aware of the test they face this weekend.
“We are on a good run of form; five unbeaten now,” he continued. “The lads are growing in confidence. We thought it would be a slow start to the season and that we would gather pace and we hoped that once we gained momentum we could build on it and really keep it going. Everyone is enjoying building towards winning; that’s what we are all about and what we are in it for.
“I see [Brentford] as being one of the top sides in the league. They have only lost three games. Stevenage had only lost two games before last weekend, so we know it is not going to be an easy game.
“We know that sides have struggled to beat them and we will have to put a decent game out there to make sure that we win the points.
“I’d love to think that patience won’t be needed, but if it is, we will have to use it. We want to tear sides to pieces. We want to batter sides, score goals and want to hurt them, so we are not going to be patient about it if we have to, but if we need to, we will bide our time and wait for the moment.”
Tickets are on sale now from the ticket and retail store and then from the ticket office on matchday. You can also buy online until midnight on Friday at MyPNE.Com – or call during opening hours on 0844 856 1966.