Wide open League Two impresses boss Bowyer

Gary Bowyer says he has been left impressed by the standard of football in League Two as he prepares for the visit of high-flying Portsmouth to Bloomfield Road tonight.
Gary BowyerGary Bowyer
Gary Bowyer

Portsmouth, who sit second in the table, come into the game on the back of a thumping 5-1 win at home to Barnet on Saturday.

And Bowyer, who is managing at this level for the first time in his career, said there are no easy games in this division.

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He said: “The league has really impressed me with the standard and we’ve seen another example of that (in Saturday’s draw at Crewe). I’m sure we’ll see the same against Portsmouth.

“We’re looking forward to that and we go into it on the back of a good away point.

“The league is so open – you put a run together and anything can happen.”

Despite Portsmouth’s good start, Paul Cook’s men have struggled on the road and have won only once away.

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But Bowyer said that if his side are going to pick up a much-needed three points, they are going to have to improve on the 1-1 draw at Gresty Road.

He said: “We have the ability to mix it up. We probably didn’t do it as well as we could have, so that’s something for us to get better at for Tuesday.

“The important thing is to recover quickly and go again.

“The competition is good and that’s something I’ve stressed to the players. They have to perform because there are players behind them pushing to get into the team.”

Bowyer accepts it will take a lot of work to stabilise the club after a torrid few years.

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“I am pleased with the progress we have made in terms of how we have played,” he said. “Obviously we have to stabilise the club and rebuild again because of what has happened in the last two years. But we have got a lot of work still to do.”

Pool’s star man on Saturday Mark Yeates is expecting a tough task tonight.

“There are obviously two games coming up in a week and hopefully we can get some more points,” Yeates said.

“You know what you’re going to get from Cooky’s sides.

“ They will want to get on the ball and pass it, but we’ve just got to worry about ourselves and hopefully put on a good performance.”