Carshalton Athletic assistant coach Mike Gilham isn’t surprised at how quickly his squad has bounced back from FA Cup heartache.
Since losing out against Ryman Premier outfit Worthing in the world’s oldest cup competition last week, Gilham and player/manager Peter Adeniyi have seen their players beat Guernsey and Molesey in the league and Ryman League Cup respectively.
And, as Carshalton go in search of a fifth league win of the season at Lewes on Saturday, Gilham revealed he didn’t think that last defeat would linger long inside the dressing room.
“It was important to see a positive reaction after the FA Cup loss and we haven’t had to wait long,” he said.
“We competed well against Worthing across the two games and that kind of cemented where we think this squad can take us.
“We are still a young team but the boys have been superb and we are learning from our mistakes too.”
Carshalton’s 4-1 league cup win on Monday came via goals from forward Josh Phillips (2), defender Bobby Price and substitute Ricky Korboa, underlining a point Gilham made about the importance of football being a squad game.
“I believe eleven good players might win you a game but a good squad will win you a league,” he said.
“Josh took his chance Monday, plus Kingsley [Aikhionbare] got stuck in and Ryan [Healy] got a few minutes – that’s all very positive, especially when you think we had the goal threat of Ricky and Mickel Miller sitting on the bench.”
Neither Carshalton nor Lewes have been involved in a league draw so far this season but Gilham added that the Robins would only be focused on taking three points at the Dripping Pan stadium.
“This is a tough league and we don’t consider any opposition as easy, but we’ll go down to Lewes full of confidence and determined to show them what we can do,” he added.
After their trip to the south coast, Carshalton then host Godalming Town at home on Monday 19th September (KO 7.45pm).
Featured image courtesy of Ian Gerrard, with thanks
