Micky Mellon addressed the local media at The Campus on Thursday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s clash against Salford City and discussed the desire to win more games as well as the development of his squad.
“We have expected to pick up more results than we have but we’re in a place where we expected to be further along with the group as well, we have a lot of work to do. We know we have to improve in certain areas so we just have to keep working forward, that’s all that we can do.
“We said at the start of the season that it was going to be about building for the future and that’s what we’ve done, we’ve recruited for that. What we never knew at the start of the season is where we was going to be at this stage and we’re obviously not where we’d like to be but we’re working hard to put it right.
“I’ve got the energy and desire to do that and I know that we need to win games because that’s what football is all about. We showed good signs certainly in the second half against Bradford and signs of being a decent team.
“It’s a working progress, especially starting from where we started. Nothing will move me from my thinking of where we’re at and what we need to do keep moving forward. I’ll keep working hard, as will the players, in this learning environment.
“There’s a lot of talent in the group but what maybe it doesn’t have is football league experience. There’s players in the group with experience but there’s also players in there who are brand new to it. I have to understand that it takes time and it’s going to take time, it’s as simple as that. The process of players becoming football league players takes time and it’s possibly taking a bit longer than expected but we’re building on it all of the time.
“Salford are another heavily invested football club, we’re not shopping in the same talent pool. We’re shopping somewhere else to try and grow a team, that’s more difficult.
“I’m looking forward to the game. We have matched more or less every team we’ve played against in large spells and we just need to do that now over 90 minutes or do that from the start of the game. We’ve got to keep going.”