No Pity Party After Dynamo Defeat

Rugby Town manager Grant Joshua was clear there would be no room for self-pity following the New Year’s Day defeat away at Shepshed, insisting unity and hard work remain the only way out of the club’s current run of form.

Shepshed did the double over Valley with another 1-0 victory at The Dovecote Stadium to go with their single-goal win from August at Butlin Road making it five straight defeats on the road for Joshua's men.

"The easiest thing to do is feel sorry for ourselves with the run we’re on," Joshua said. "I certainly won’t be doing that and I won’t accept it from my players, because that will only prolong this below-standard run.”

Joshua reiterated that difficult spells were always part of the longer-term process he outlined when he took charge, and stressed the importance of staying united when results dip.

"I said when I took over there would be a specific time in the season when results wouldn’t be good enough. When that time comes and the tree starts to shake, it’s critical that we stay together — staff, players and club.

"That doesn’t excuse performances, but there will be no panic from me. I know what we have when confidence is high.

"I hear opinions about why we aren’t where people think we should be, and I understand the frustration, but it’s a lazy understanding of how a process works with a brand-new group at a big football club.

"It’s going to take longer than five months. We live in a world where people want instant success, and we’re being judged on a good run we had earlier in the season.

"That optimism to get Rugby back to where it should be can’t be based on the previous two seasons alone. “I don’t have a magic wand, but I’ll work myself into the ground for this football club, just as I have everywhere else.”

Reflecting on the performance itself, Joshua felt confidence, or the lack of it, was again a decisive factor: "This group has an abundance of talent, but if you could bottle one thing in football it would be confidence, and that’s what we’re lacking at the moment.

"To get it back, you have to double down on the basics and not look too far ahead. The next training session is the next opportunity to start rebuilding.

“These lads haven’t suddenly become bad players. We’ve dropped our levels by five to ten percent, and when seven or eight players do that at the same time, it adds up to not winning football matches.”

Joshua was frank in his assessment of the game at Shepshed, admitting it was a poor spectacle and that his side did not do enough to deserve a result: "As a spectacle it was a poor watch, a game lacking quality. It’s impossible to get the ball down and play on that surface, and going direct doesn’t suit us - I’ve said that many times. Even so, I expected more from us going forward.

“We had too many below-par performances and didn’t deserve anything from the game. We have to find a way to become more creative and score goals. We’re not working opposition goalkeepers anywhere near enough, and we haven’t connected our play well enough over the last couple of games.

"That’s something we’ll work hard on at training on Tuesday and Thursday, and we’ll make sure we’re ready for the Belper game on Saturday."