Daniel Adshead has said that the game against Crawley Town on Tuesday (7:45pm KO) isn’t just for experience, and they’ll be looking to win their last group game of the Leasing.com Trophy.
Looking back on the loss to Manchester United, Adshead spoke of how he felt the Academy side have outplayed their previous opponents, but still have come away with a loss on some occasions.
“I don’t think the manager [David Wright] will mind me saying this but that’s been the story of the season so far. We’ve been really good at times, but we’ve just not got that result. It’s frustrating, of course, because we know how good we are and how well we can play at times. We just need to find our consistency for the whole 90 minutes. Get that winning feeling in the dressing room. We’re just missing something from that final third, but we’re always training really hard to improve, so hopefully the goals will come and so will the wins.”
Playing Manchester United on Friday and now Crawley on Tuesday means the Academy have had just three days to recover. This comes often in the EFL, with most games being played in such short periods of time. Speaking on this, Adshead has said the team are ready to go again, being driven by the passion for the game.
“It doesn’t affect us that much because the set up here is so good. Yesterday was recovery, quite a long one to ensure that we’re ready to go again tomorrow. The travel is long, but it’s part of the job so I can’t really complain. We’ve just got to look after ourselves the best we can and go again Tuesday.
“At the end of the day we’re playing games, being in training is brilliant but what we really love is playing the game. The more games there is the better it is for us to, not only develop, but to look forward to.”
Adshead isn’t discouraged by facing a senior side like Crawley, insisting that the team are looking for their first win of the competition, as well as gaining all the valuable experience possible.
“I don’t see it as just an experience. We’re not here to just try and learn, of course that’s a massive part, but at the end of the day we want to win. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get our first win of the competition. We’re not here just to take part. It’s these games that we look forward to, because it’s so different to academy football. We can learn so much.”
Settling into the team has been no issue for the young midfielder, who joined in the Summer. Touching on playing first-team football for Rochdale, and now being part of the academy, Adshead has said he has the qualities to lead the team against a senior squad.
“All the players are top lads. I’m very fortunate to have joined such a good group of boys. Together we’re really looking forward to the games. I’m lucky enough to have quite a lot of experience playing in and against first teams and playing in the stadiums. I can lead the boys in some ways. But together we’re really eager to learn and get going against Crawley.”
Echoing David Wright’s philosophy, Adshead is also a believer in focusing on performance and letting the result come naturally in the game, however the desire for that winning feeling spurs him on to be a better player.
“We always say that if we play the Norwich way then the result will take care of itself, so if we perform like we know we can, we won’t need to worry about the score. Initially we just have to focus on the performance, it’s good cutting through teams and playing really well, but at the end of the day we haven’t won a game in this competition.
“There is that aspect where we do need to start winning games and getting that winning feeling. At times we’ve performed really, really well but the result just hasn’t followed it. It feels like we’ve been a bit unlucky at times, but hopefully tomorrow we’ll get that win and get a good performance in as well.”