Manager Michael Duff wants to replicate Cheltenham Town’s high pressing performance at the weekend when they travel to Oldham Athletic in Sky Bet League Two on Tuesday evening.
The Robins drew 1-1 with local rivals Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, with Tyrone Barnett putting them ahead midway through the first half – and the Cheltenham boss wants to see the same intensity from his side when they travel up north tomorrow.
“They know what to expect from me now and I know what to expect from them because we’ve had a chat and they’ve delivered, they didn’t deliver a win, but they did deliver a performance,” said Duff.
“If we can deliver enough of those performances (on Saturday), then you’ll get more wins than losses.
“I want to get into people’s faces and get on the front foot and take the game to people and I think it wins you the ball in better areas of the pitch and if you can do it – i.e. with the goal we scored at the weekend rather than relying on counter-attacks all the time.
“If you go back to our goal, Forest Green had a lot of the ball for it. They’ve had three or four passes around our box and then they have gone backwards, and we have nicked a few yards, then again and we’ve nicked a few more yards and it’s ended up with their goalie and we nicked it off him. That comes with the shape of the team and getting a good press.”
Oldham come into the match struggling for form, especially at home, but Duff believes that they are one of the best teams he has seen in the division this season when they are on their game.
“I think they’re a good team. From the games that I’ve seen, they look a good team. It’s a tough place to go and a long way to travel, it will probably be freezing as it always is at Oldham but it’s the next challenge,” he added.
“It’s a good chance because it’s the next game, Saturday was a great chance to go and put the marker down with a win and unfortunately we didn’t do it but we did do enough so if we can do that again then we’ll hopefully fall on the right side of the line this time.”