RICKETTS: WE’VE GOT STRONG CHARACTERS IN THE DRESSING ROOM

Boreham Wood midfielder Mark Ricketts believes that despite Saturday’s loss to Hartlepool United, the Wood’s fortunes will change.

We spoke to the Wood skipper following the final whistle to get his thoughts on the game, and look ahead to tonight’s clash with AFC Wrexham.

“I’m very disappointed. We all are,” Ricketts began. “I felt in the first half we played well. We were good going forward and we had a threat which is something we haven’t had in a while.

“We conceded a goal against the run of play a little bit – it’s a great header from the lad, but he shouldn’t be scoring.

“We need to take our chances when we are on top, particularly in the first half when we put a lot of balls into the box, because then the game maybe changes.

“In the second half, I still feel that to concede three goals was harsh. We weren’t as good as we were in the first half, but it felt like we conceded three soft goals. It was a very frustrating day.”

Manager Luke Garrard switched the formation to a 4-3-3 and the Wood looked lively in attacking areas in the first-half, something Ricketts said had been worked on in the training ground.

“He wants the players to be braver on the ball and to go and express themselves.

“I thought Ralston Gabriel had a great debut and was a constant threat for us. We put some good balls into the box and there was a great emphasis on that.”

One of the players that stood out on Saturday was Peterborough United loanee Idris Kanu, who sat in an attacking role behind the front three, just in front of Ricketts.

“He’s good and he’s obviously a talented boy, which is why he is where he’s at.

“I talked to him a little bit about his positioning off the ball to try and get him to fill in and sit on one of their players, but other than that he’s just expressing himself. He knows what he’s doing when he gets that ball because he is a good player.

“Hopefully we can give Idris the freedom to go and play himself. To make those runs in behind and be creative on the ball, whilst giving that balance behind him.”

The 34-year-old remains confident that Boreham Wood can fight their way from the danger zone and start picking up points in the remaining games this season.

“We’ve got strong characters in the dressing room and we will all stick together and keep fighting. We just need to keep believing that we can come out of this.

“At the moment it just feels like any 50/50 and any ball that drops down seems to fall to the opponent. You can have spells like that in football, but then something can spark a little change and we’ll be on the front foot and the ball will be dropping to us.

“There just needs to be something to start it off and there will be a change and hopefully that will be against Wrexham on Tuesday night.”