GRAY: “WE’VE GOT TO KEEP BELIEVING IN OURSELVES TO TURN THE SEASON INTO A SUCCESSFUL ONE”

By Brian Bennett

Nick Gray reflected on Ashington’s 1-0 defeat at Brighouse on Saturday and said that the players have got to keep believing in themselves if they are to turn the season into a successful one.

A goal in the first half by Jack Dando settled the contest in Brighouse’s favour and Gray said: “The previous week I thought we deserved something out of the contest against Stocksbridge Park Steels and I could say exactly the same again today but the bottom line is the result which says a 1-0 win for Brighouse. We had more entries in the final third than they did and our goalkeeper (Dan Staples) has probably had his easiest game for a long, long time. However their ‘keeper (Kyle Trenerry) has not had one shot to save so if that’s the case we’ve got to think about what we are doing. Winners aren’t nice people – they are ruthless, clinical and they don’t know when they are beaten. However, I cannot fault the application or effort from the boys today because it was there. I’d be the first to say if it wasn’t but then you’ve got to look at other aspects and I’ve been in the game long enough to know where we need to improve and where we need to tweak things.”

He continued: “I felt there were aspects we were good at today and there were some good performances but we’ve got to do things quickly because the first three points are the toughest to get. I could hear the reaction from the Brighouse dressing room and it showed how much the win meant to them. Consequently we’ve got to keep believing in ourselves to turn the season into a successful one.”

He went on: “I thought the first goal was critical and when the opposition say to you that you are the better side whilst it’s nice to hear, it means nothing because we have lost the game. It’s disappointing for everyone who has come down here today but I cannot dwell on the past – I’ve just got to look forward and learn from the past. We’ve got to work at things as quickly as we can because today was the start of an important period at the club with four games – three away and one at home – in ten days.”

Gray’s outfit had a golden opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty in the fourth minute but home stopper Kyle Trenerry denied Michael Ndiweni from the spot. Gray added: “I’ll take the blame for the penalty situation. To be fair I didn’t nominate a penalty taker beforehand which is something that I usually do. Michael (Ndiweni) has stood up and been counted, He has taken it; he’s hit the target and the ‘keeper has saved it – but there were 85 plus minutes remaining after that so I attach no blame on Michael at all – he probably wanted a goal for his confidence. When Brighouse took the lead, they hung onto it and all they did for their goal was to put the ball into a good area. They got scraps off it and scored.”