Cambridge United to make 'lots of changes' for Charlton Athletic clash
Cambridge United boss Mark Bonner is looking to “freshen the team up” for his side's clash against Charlton Athletic tomorrow evening.
The U’s head into tomorrow's clash at the Abbey off the back of claiming a significant scalp, having beaten league leaders Wigan Athletic 2-1 away from home on Saturday.
United have won four of their last five matches at a time when their League One status has been assured, with Bonner’s side showing no sign of letting up despite their safety being confirmed.
The U’s are after a top half finish, but Bonner is balancing that aim with giving the whole squad an opportunity to impress.
“Physically that was a real grind,” the head coach said of Saturday’s win at Wigan.
“It was a slightly later kick-off, it was a late finish for us, so the turnaround time is a little bit less than normal.
“The emotional and physical energy of that game, it was a hot day, all those little things do take their toll, and we have to remember we’re in game 56/7 of the season for a lot of players, so it’s quite a brutal run that we’ve been on, which is the right reason and time to freshen the team up.
“Some will go again, and whether it’s tough or not, it doesn’t really matter, they’ve got to do it, because that’s what the game demands.
“We’ve got to be there, we’ve got to show up, we’ve got to find energy, we’ve got to make sure the ones coming into the team take that opportunity and give us a freshness, and we deliver a performance that looks like us again, because if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.
“We’ll change in every area, we’ll make quite a lot of changes. We’ll make as many as we can I think, because we need a freshness about that.
“We know what’s coming on Saturday away to Sunderland again, so we need to make sure we use the whole squad throughout the week, and hope that gives us the maximum points return we are capable of getting this week.
“Expect lots of changes, expect lots of opportunity for players, and hopefully that returns us a good level.”
Saturday’s victory moved the U’s into the top half of League One, with Bonner’s side on 57 points from 43 matches played.
They host the 15th placed Addicks tomorrow, who are four points behind United at this stage.
Bonner is targeting a better result but a repeat performance to the reverse fixture, with his side competing well in a 2-0 defeat at the Valley in December.
“They’re a good side. I think we saw that earlier in the season,” he added.
“It was Johnnie’s (Jackson) last game as caretaker when we played them, HMS Ironside made its way to the Valley, and we had I thought one of our best performances of the season.
“We lost the game 2-0, but we were outstanding and shouldn’t have been on the losing side, we played very well.
“It was in a run of games, bar the Cheltenham game, where we played a lot of the top teams, and let’s be fair, Charlton might not be in the position of it, but their squad, depth, size, history and resource, they are a top team, and they’ve got some excellent players that would get into a lot of League One clubs.
“We know how tough that makes the game, and we’ve got to try and hit a similar level to last time in terms of performance, but also then try and make sure we come out with something from the game.
“Any points return from us tomorrow will be a good one, and we want to continue the good form that we’ve had, knowing that in changing the team we’re going to disrupt the rhythm a little bit, but that’s the right thing to do, and we’ve got to see if that team can give us a winning performance.”
Chapple laying out the transfer aim of the Powell season and highlighting how important Varney was in his position.... he wont be invited back on again now!
Comments
Cambridge United boss Mark Bonner is looking to “freshen the team up” for his side's clash against Charlton Athletic tomorrow evening.
The U’s head into tomorrow's clash at the Abbey off the back of claiming a significant scalp, having beaten league leaders Wigan Athletic 2-1 away from home on Saturday.
United have won four of their last five matches at a time when their League One status has been assured, with Bonner’s side showing no sign of letting up despite their safety being confirmed.
The U’s are after a top half finish, but Bonner is balancing that aim with giving the whole squad an opportunity to impress.
“Physically that was a real grind,” the head coach said of Saturday’s win at Wigan.
“It was a slightly later kick-off, it was a late finish for us, so the turnaround time is a little bit less than normal.
“The emotional and physical energy of that game, it was a hot day, all those little things do take their toll, and we have to remember we’re in game 56/7 of the season for a lot of players, so it’s quite a brutal run that we’ve been on, which is the right reason and time to freshen the team up.
“Some will go again, and whether it’s tough or not, it doesn’t really matter, they’ve got to do it, because that’s what the game demands.
“We’ve got to be there, we’ve got to show up, we’ve got to find energy, we’ve got to make sure the ones coming into the team take that opportunity and give us a freshness, and we deliver a performance that looks like us again, because if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.
“We’ll change in every area, we’ll make quite a lot of changes. We’ll make as many as we can I think, because we need a freshness about that.
“We know what’s coming on Saturday away to Sunderland again, so we need to make sure we use the whole squad throughout the week, and hope that gives us the maximum points return we are capable of getting this week.
“Expect lots of changes, expect lots of opportunity for players, and hopefully that returns us a good level.”
Saturday’s victory moved the U’s into the top half of League One, with Bonner’s side on 57 points from 43 matches played.
They host the 15th placed Addicks tomorrow, who are four points behind United at this stage.
Bonner is targeting a better result but a repeat performance to the reverse fixture, with his side competing well in a 2-0 defeat at the Valley in December.
“They’re a good side. I think we saw that earlier in the season,” he added.
“It was Johnnie’s (Jackson) last game as caretaker when we played them, HMS Ironside made its way to the Valley, and we had I thought one of our best performances of the season.
“We lost the game 2-0, but we were outstanding and shouldn’t have been on the losing side, we played very well.
“It was in a run of games, bar the Cheltenham game, where we played a lot of the top teams, and let’s be fair, Charlton might not be in the position of it, but their squad, depth, size, history and resource, they are a top team, and they’ve got some excellent players that would get into a lot of League One clubs.
“We know how tough that makes the game, and we’ve got to try and hit a similar level to last time in terms of performance, but also then try and make sure we come out with something from the game.
“Any points return from us tomorrow will be a good one, and we want to continue the good form that we’ve had, knowing that in changing the team we’re going to disrupt the rhythm a little bit, but that’s the right thing to do, and we’ve got to see if that team can give us a winning performance.”
Says it all that he's now with Luton when you see where they are - Didnt even realise that he was with them now.
If you want to watch both games head down to Bromley FC
The pic from Bromley was sent to me BTW.
Oh why did we chuck - or push out - all good people like Phil away 😢
The former looked rather cheerful
2' - Shilow works himself some space for a shot but the winger's effort is blocked.
Post update
Akin Famewo (Charlton Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Shilow Tracey (Cambridge United).
Post update
Liam O'Neil (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Jayden Stockley (Charlton Athletic).