My Dear Watson
Friday, 11th Dec 2020“I’ve been in this league long enough that you end up playing against a lot of former team-mates.
Paul Watson may line up on Saturday against a team with a new manager but probably against several old team-mates. Paul played in the same Livingston side as Kyle Jacobs, with Cameron Blues at Falkirk and Aidan Nesbitt at Dundee United but joked that he should probably know everyone in the Championship by now!
“I’ve been in this league long enough that you end up playing against a lot of former team-mates. They’ve got good players and they’ll be well organised and tough to break down. We know what to expect but we’re confident we can come away with the three points.”
Greenock Morton announced on Thursday the departure of manager, David Hopkin, as a victim of “the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic” facing Scottish football. The club announced that the “manager offered his resignation, in a selfless act to help safeguard the playing squad and assist the club as it deals with the serious financial issues resulting from the pandemic.”
For Saturday’s match at East End Park Assistant Manager, Anton McElhone, will take charge, with support from players, Chris Millar, Jim McAlister and Brian McLean.
Paul Watson still expects Morton to set up in a similar fashion to last Saturday:-
“They played a five at the back, and it pretty much was a solid five, against Hearts, but I don’t know if they’ll do the same when they come here. It’s going to be a difficult game and I think the key is not to get frustrated; we’ve been working on that a lot. We’ve got to move it quickly to try to move them out of there, and hopefully we can get the three points.
“If they do sit in and make it difficult, and try to counter, then it’s something we need to be prepared for. We’ve been working hard on it this week. We just need to keep doing what we’re good at and what’s been bringing us success this season, and hopefully we come away with the three points.”
Dunfermline have a 100% record at home this season but last weekend was their second draw in the Championship. The 2-2 draw away to Raith Rovers could be a good point in the end claimed Paul:-
“We’re just frustrated at the way we started the game and the goals we conceded, because they’re avoidable.”
Referring to the poor marking of Manny Duku at the first goal, Paul said:-
“We’ve looked at it back and we’ll sort it out. It was just disappointing that it happened but it was good to fight back and get the point after being two down. It could be a massive point come the end of the season.
“From all the possession that Raith had, in the first-half especially, they never really carved us open. To lose two goals from set pieces is disappointing but we’ll be working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again on Saturday against Morton.”
The 29 year old signed from Dundee United in June and has played in every match this season but he admitted that the team just wasn’t ‘at it’ fully:-
“That’s the first time that’s happened this season but to show the response and the character we did just shows the belief we have in the camp. To keep the unbeaten run going as well is good.
“That’s four wins and two draws [in the league] and we’re back at home on Saturday against Morton. Hopefully we can take care of the home games and keep picking up points away from home.
“That’s 14 points we’ve got from six games? Fifteen points [per quarter] is usually enough for the play-offs when you play each other four times a season and 18 points for the league [title].
“With playing each other three times this season it might be a bit different, but we’re well within the target and hopefully we can just keeping that going.”
It is a case of not getting too high or low, Paul continued:-
“The boys aren’t getting carried away with themselves at all, although we’ve started well. Hearts are massive favourites for the league, I think everyone knows that, but if we can give them a good run then the play-offs have got to be the aim - anything above that, because of the way we’ve started, is a bonus. We just need to take each game as it comes, and we’re happy to go under the radar and see what happens.”
Sitting second in the league just a point behind the Tynecastle club is hardly keeping the challenge quiet however but Paul still insisted that all the pressure is on Hearts:-
“We’re happy to put that on them because it should be. If you look at the squad they’ve got, the money they’ve got, their budget. They are the favourites for the league, and rightly so but we’re happy to go under the radar and just see where it takes us.
“If we just keep doing what we’ve been doing and win our games, take care of ourselves and pick up points like last Saturday when we’ve not really been at our best, then hopefully we’ll be up and around it at the end of the season.“
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