Ritchie - Manager will still have influence despite ban (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON TOWN: Manager will still have influence despite ban

6:00am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in STFC News

TOWN winger Matt Ritchie is adamant that the players will not be affected by boss Paolo Di Canio’s two-match touchline ban for improper conduct, writes ROBIN JELLIS.

Di Canio was this week issued with the ban for his behaviour that saw him sent to the stands during Swindon’s 1-0 win away to Macclesfield last month, but Ritchie claimed that the manager’s absence from the touchline wouldn’t affect the team’s performance.

“He is in the stand, but I’m sure he will still motivate the players before the game and at half-time. He’ll be in the changing room as well so it won’t be too much of a difference,” the winger said.

“He’s a character on the sidelines and he does motivate from the sideline as well so it will be a little bit different, but the other coaching staff will be there, so I’m sure he’ll get his messages down.”

Looking ahead to this evening’s clash with fellow promotion-chasing rivals Crawley Town, Ritchie is upbeat as to the home side’s chances.

He added: “Obviously we got a good result when we went there away from home but it’s going to be a big game. There are a few teams who are in the mix and probably looking to get automatic (promotion), and obviously Crawley are one of them and it’s going to be a big six-pointer.

“It’s not going to be an easy game but I think that if we do the things we’ve been doing and keep performing the way we all have then I’m sure we can win.”

The recent snow and cold weather has seen both of Swindon’s last two weekend fixtures cancelled, and although Ritchie and his teammates have been frustrated by the latest postponement, results have gone their way meaning Swindon are only four points off the top, and have two games in hand on most of their nearest rivals.

“When you don’t play it’s a little bit disappointing. It’s good to have games in hand but it’s better to have points on the board so it’s a little bit disappointing we’ve had two games called off the last couple of Saturdays,” he said.

“When you don’t play all you can hope for is that results do go your way, and luckily enough results have gone our way, but we need to now turn those games in hand into points and get points on the board and push on up the table.

“There are a lot of teams in and around the top four or five. It’s very tight up there and anyone could go on a little run and maybe push on up into the top three, so I think it’s going to go down to the last game or so.”