Wrexham Evening Leader

Reds are ready to bounce back

By RICHARD WILLIAMS

14 December 2007

Brian LittleBRIAN LITTLE is confident Wrexham can recover from a first defeat under his leadership and get a favourable result against Brentford at The Racecourse tomorrow (3pm).

A three game unbeaten run under Little came to an end last weekend as Wrexham suffered a 3-0 defeat at Dagenham and Redbridge.

That result plunged Wrexham back into the relegation zone, but Little remains positive that Wrexham can bounce back against fellow strugglers Brentford – four points and four places above the Reds who have a game in hand.

"We are back in the bottom two, and back under pressure, but it will be a test of our mentality and solidarity," said Little today.

"We all need to be in the right frame of mind, and I have to pick a team that will win.

"I am sure we will get a response from them. Everyone wants to do well. Even though we played poorly last week, no-one can say we didn't try.
"We will give it everything we have got, and hopefully come out with the right result."

Little admitted that his team selection had been wrong at Dagenham last week.

Having started with a 3-5-2 formation, Wrexham found themselves trailing 1-0 at the break and switched to a 4-4-2 system for the second half.

Two late goals eventually killed off the game, and Little, who had seen his side unbeaten in the two previous away games that week, accepted the blame for defeat.

"Last week was potentially a harmful week with three away games," said Little. "We drew with Rochdale who have proved to be a good team and then beat Bury.

"It was disappointing to lose at Dagenham. We did not play well first half but we changed it for the second half and should have got something out of it, but we let in two poor goals at the end.

"I learnt a lot about the players and myself. It was my fault with the team that I picked.

"I think that is being upfront, but even when you win you should analyse yourself, and be honest enough to say if you got it right.

"I have been a manager for more than 800 games and am 50-odd but still make occasional mistakes.

"Win, lose or draw, you have to make decisions which may be unsuccessful."

Little has taken on board the circumstances of defeat against Dagenham which he believes will be beneficial to the Reds in the coming months.

And the 54-year-old said there will be changes to the side for the visit of Brentford, who parted company with manager Terry Butcher earlier in the week by mutual consent and who will have his former assistant Andy Scott temporarily in charge tomorrow.

"At the start, Dagenham were better than us but I think that if we were winning 1-0, I would have changed the system," added Little.

"It opened my eyes to one or two things which will be of advantage to us in the future.

"Had we lost and been unlucky it would be a different matter, but something on the day did not work.

"We know how Brentford will play and I will pick a team that will hopefully win. There will be a couple of changes. I think it is right to do that.

"We have worked hard this week, and tried different people in different positions, I am looking for a good result."

WREXHAM (from): Anthony Williams, Steve Evans, Pejic, Hope, Baynes, Garrett, Roberts, Llewellyn, Valentine, Proctor, Marc Williams, Aiston, Done, Johnson, Taylor, Spann, Gareth Evans, Spender, Michael Jones.