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Club News

Dobson hails team performance

10 September 2018

Club News

Dobson hails team performance

10 September 2018

Saddlers captain George Dobson hailed his team’s performance as the Saddlers picked up a point in a 1-1 draw against Barnsley at Oakwell.

The team fell behind in unfortunate fashion as the ball bounced off Jack Fitzwater to give the hosts an undeserved lead.

But Dean Keates’ side were rewarded for their efforts with one minute of normal time left to play as Andy Cook smashed the ball under Reds keeper Jack Walton.

A change of formation meant Cook started on the bench for the first time in the league this season.

But Dobson, 20, was impressed with how the big striker impacted the game when he came on as a substitute with just over 10 minutes left.

“It is a squad game," he said.

"Sometimes the gaffer will change his team selection and then you have got to just keep your head and be ready for when you are called upon.

"Cookie has come on with 10 to play and he has made the difference. That is all you can ask for from someone who has come off the bench.

“It was a great chance for Jack but we always talk about getting people out of trouble. Jack didn’t finish it off, but that is where Cookey has come in and made up for it.

“Even after that we had one or two more counters where we could have gone and nicked it.

“It was a really positive performance away from home and it’s now seven games unbeaten. We can take that into next week, have a good week's training heading into Doncaster and hopefully make it eight.”

It wasn’t just Cook who stood out for Dobson on the day, with goalkeeper Liam Roberts coming to the rescue on several occasions.

“Robbo is a fantastic goalkeeper in this league and he will get us out of a bit of bother because of the way we play," Dobson added.

“We play at full throttle so we will sometimes leave ourselves a little bit open and that is when you need your goalkeeper to save you and Robbo does that when called upon all the time.”

For the first time this season the Saddlers adopted a different formation, with manager Keates opting to go with a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-4-2.

And Dobson believes the addition of Wolves midfielder Connor Ronan gives the team more tactical flexibility.

“He is a lovely player, a delight to watch and a delight to play with.

“He has fitted in perfectly so long may that continue. The way he takes the ball in tight places, he can keep the ball under pressure which is so valuable for us.

“When the ball keeps turning over it is so hard because you have to do so much running, so when Connor is in the team he gives us that option because he really helps the team.

“It was different (the formation). It is something we would like to work on more and it is good to play a lot of different formations so we can adapt. In games things are going to change and if we need to change from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, we need to be ready.

“I think we adapted well. We went to Barnsley, a team who are tipped to be in the top two in the league, and we're disappointed not to have all three points. 

"That shows just how much confidence we have in each other and in the team to give it our best shot in every game we play.”


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