The Head Coach provided his pre-match thoughts ahead of the Sky Bet League Two match against Walsall this evening (7:45pm KO).
Reflecting on a frustrating result against Swindon Town, Shez outlined his irritation at a lack of concentration which resulted in a late winner for the hosts, however, he remains upbeat about the situation.
“Obviously, like most games when we lose, we’re very disappointed because I thought that the lads battled hard against a good footballing side, they like to move it around the pitch at a tempo.
“In my opinion, we had a really good start to the game to be fair to the players, but the manner that we lost the game, it’s very tough to take with it being more or less the last kick of the season because we defended when we had to defend during the 90 minutes, so we just got to cut out these silly errors, and then, (Jordan) Clarkey getting sent off didn't help us out.
“In the last two games, we’ve conceded in the last minute which would’ve given us two more points and maintained the unbeaten run, but it is what it is, and we’ve got to move on, and the lads are giving 100% in each match, so we must keep our heads up going forward.”
With a busy schedule in place for Latics, the gaffer stated that his side must learn from their mistakes in previous outings and individuals must impress when given an opportunity on the field.
“We cannot dwell on the game, especially when we’ve got a tough game tomorrow evening and we’ve got to have full focus on the next fixture in our schedule. We’ve said what we had to say, so they’ll try and learn from what they’ve done wrong in that game and positively impact future performances.
“In the next couple of weeks, we've got games coming thick and fast, so it’s important we stick together because the squad is very tight with suspensions and injuries which means that numbers-wise, we are a bit short for options.
“I’m trying not to make that an excuse, but whoever comes in has got to try and stay in the team and give good performances in order to get good results.”
Shez also provided an update surrounding Harrison McGahey’s injury as well as aiming for his faith to be repaid in certain players coming into the team due to suspensions and injuries.
“He’s just suffered a thigh injury, so we'll just have to wait and see as he’ll get a scan, so we will wait until we know the full story regarding the situation, and then, we’ll make a judgement on his potential return.
“Whoever comes in and fills a position is expected to do well and I’ll have belief in them and, hopefully, they’ll go out and give produce a great performance and help the team, like I said, most importantly, get a result.”
A former Republic of Ireland international, Shez admits that he admires his opposite number in the Walsall dugout and claimed that he’s expecting a tough match in the West Midlands.
“I know (Mike) Flynny, he worked under me at Newport County, he’s a great lad. He did really, really well at Newport. A genuinely promising up and coming manager within the EFL, so I have a lot of respect and time for him.
“Flynny’s probably doing what I expected him to do which is going into Walsall and sorting them out as well as putting his stamp on them and they’re a tough team that will be organised.
“I know that it's going to be a really tough game, so I'll expect one, but again we go there with the belief that we can win the game as always.”