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PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE: Swindon Town v Rochdale

Good morning and welcome to today's Total Sport Swindon press conference live blog as Swindon Town prepare to take on Rochdale in League Two. Join Ryan Walker as he speaks to Ben Garner from 8.30am.

9:04AM

That conclude's today's press conference. Thank you for joining us, make sure to listen to the latest episode of 'The Presser' going out later today on The Loathed Strangers podcast for an in-depth analysis ahead of tomorrow's match.

9:03AM

Garner on Louis Reed:


"He is very very important and a fantastic player. Both Ben Chorley and I were delighted when we managed to get him to the club because it was a difficult thing to do. We hoped we would get him in but we doubted it at times because of the quality of player Louis is.


He is a really good player, very popular within the group and is a wonderful decision-maker with the ball. He has really improved in the time he has been here without the ball and he is another player growing in leadership skills. He has had an excellent season so far."

9:01AM

Garner on dressing room control:


"In my eyes the dressing room is the players domain. What goes on inside there is down to the players. If you're going to be successful then you need leaders on the pitch and leaders in the team. You have to empower players to do that off the pitch and we have a culture and direction we want to go in, and how we work and how we treat people has been made clear from mine and the staffs perspective, but then in the areas within the players control is done to them.



You will hear a lot of people saying you don't find as many leaders nowadays. We have to create those leaders and they are a different type of leader to years gone by. We have go give them the space to do that and that is something we are very conscious off. We have different types of leaders within our group."

8:53AM

Garner on the importance of team unity:


"It's really important and in my experience you can't be successful without having a good team unity. The teams I've been involved in over the years the best performances and best teams have been where everyone is close, not just close in terms of being mates but also that closeness in being able to challenge each other and you can even criticise each other in training. There is that closeness that nobody takes it personally, it's about the behaviour and not the individual.


If we aren't happy about the standard of something then we are happy that the players can address that and we as staff can address that without people taking it personally. We've tried to forge those bonds but we have given a lot of ownership to players in terms of how they run the dressing room, the environment they want and the fine system.


We are trying to develop leaders all the time who we think can help that and they are a wonderful group to work with every day."




8:44AM

Garner on Harry McKirdy form:


"I think he has got fitter and he came in after a long period of not playing. He had a niggle in his quad that he was managing and we took the decision to get that right and we are now seeing Harry at 100%."

8:43AM

Garner on team changes:


"We make changes on what is needed at different times in the season. We get to see these players day in, day out and we are looking at everything. We take that all into account and then balance it against our strengths and what the opposition do."

8:42AM

Garner on playing at home:


"We've spoke about playing at home tomorrow. We don't prepare any differently and home performances have been good without us getting the results. I'm sure we can do enough to win the game."

8:40AM

Garner on Rochdale:


"We have good confidence and good momentum which is great but we won't be getting ahead of ourselves. Rochdale are a really good team even though results have dropped recently. Their statistics are high, they have good players, a good manager and if you give them time they will put good performances in.


I always look at video and stats but it is nice to have that data and statistics because they don't lie. Stats give you a good reference point and we use that ourself to analyse our performances. Colchester was a good example but you always trust your eye and the view of the game first."

8:38AM

Garner on performances:


"Even now we want to get better for the next 11/12 games. There has been a lot of good work and commitment to the process and we want to get stronger as the season goes on both physically and in terms of performances. That comes with focusing on training and performing well tomorrow."

8:36AM

Garner on Mitchell-Lawson:


"I think it was a strong performance from Jayden but there is a lot more to come from him. he is still adapting and getting up to speed but there is so much potential there. The longer you are around together and play together that natural understanding between players improves. The more we work on that the stronger we can perform as a team."

8:35AM

Garner on Plymouth victory:


"It was a good team performance with some really good individual performances in that. We had physical records broken in terms of distances ion that game from players who haven't been playing regularly. That was really pleasing and shows the culture of the group. It was a good win against a strong Plymouth win away from home."

8:34AM

Garner on goalkeepers:


"I've decided on the team for Saturday and we will go through a final bit of preparation today. It's exactly what we want with everyone playing at the top of their ability. JoJo has done that this season and Lewis has come in and done that. I will be picking the team that is right for tomorrow."

8:32AM

Garner on international duty:


"The players that arrived back on international duty are all good. JoJo `arrived back in Heathrow yesterday so we haven't seen him yet but he played both games for Ghana and will be back in today. He is very tired after lots of travel but we will have a good catch up today and it was a wonderful experience for him and I'm sure his family is very proud."

8:31AM

Good morning and welcome to todays press conference. Ben Garner has now joined us.

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