From the Arbroath Herald: Arbroath skipper Mark Whatley wants side to bring back the intensity
Skipper Mark Whatley was in no doubt about what Arbroath need to return to their good run of form - belief in their abilities.
The Lichties were held to a goalless draw by East Stirling on Tuesday night and the lack of confidence in the hosts’ ranks was obvious from the get-go.
Players looked unsure on and off the ball, making simple mistakes and not getting into a rhythm until the 75th minute or so.
But in spite of their shakiness the home players created several chances in front of goal, and it’s perhaps a sign of their changed luck that the likes of Kane Hester and Bobby Linn missed the kind of opportunities that fell their way: just weeks ago, you’d fancy those efforts to hit the back of the net.
However it wasn’t to be on Tuesday and Whatley says the side need to bring the intensity from the start of games in the future.
He said: “I think we had enough chances, but I still think we could have created a bit more though.
“Towards the end we had a bit more urgency but throughout, right from the start, I felt we needed to have more belief in ourselves.
“We needed to be confident in going to get the ball, get beyond the man, just show our ability. We need more of that.
“The last 10 minutes we were pushing and we looked like we were kicking on, but we need that from the start. We need to go and get the ball and get it to our forward players.
“It’s a bit slow at times. I think we deserved to win the game still, but there’s room for improvement.
“They had a few wee fouls and it seemed like they were taking a while to get going from goal kicks and so on. But fair play to them, they set up here to get the point and they got it.
“For us we need to go get the ball, get it down and get it played up to our forwards. Everything has to be sharper as it was in the final 10 minutes. I
“ don’t know what it’s down to, you’ve seen it before and you’ll see it again.
“We’ll go again on Saturday, that’s all you can do. It’s good we’ve got a game in the next few days to get this out of our system.”
This weekend is the visit of Clyde and Whatley hopes to make it another win over the Bully Wee.
He added: “It’s a tough one obviously, but we beat Clyde the last time we played them and we’ll be looking to beat them again.”