New manager MacDonald praises character of his squad (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: New manager MacDonald praises character of his squad

6:00am Saturday 9th March 2013 in Sport By Sam Morshead

KEVIN MacDonald is delighted with the character of the squad he has inherited at Swindon Town.

The new Robins boss has only been in the job a week but, having seen the resolve of his players in their 2-1 win at Coventry last Saturday and their general attitude in training, he’s already convinced that he has at his disposal a group willing to work hard for each other.

MacDonald has barely seen his own bed during his first seven days as Town manager, tying in scouting trips with training and a visit to St George’s Park to watch the youth team in action. And although he might be tired he could not be happier with how it has all gone.

“It’s been very exciting for me, I don’t know so much for the players. It’s been fun. It’s been hard work because I’ve been chasing around watching games here, there and everywhere, but the players have been very, very good,” he said.

“Everything I’ve tried to do they’ve tried to respond to and I think they’re still really, happy because of how they recovered on Saturday after going a goal down.

“I wouldn’t say I know everybody but I think yourselves and the supporters watched the game last Saturday and to see how they responded to going a goal down so early on and then to see the excitement and to see the rapport they had with the fans after the game shows that the character is very, very good.

“We can all improve in terms of playing football and making managerial decisions but you have to have that rapport with one another and they have. You saw the bench jumping for joy when they got the equaliser and then the winner.

“They’ve got a very good camaraderie, they’ve got very good character and now we just need to tidy up on the footballing ability because there’s no doubt they’ve got some good footballing ability. Otherwise they wouldn’t be in the position they are in the league.

“The big thing for me, and I need to try to get this over to people, is because the players have been here all the time and the fans are supporting them the thing is to get three points for the players and the fans.”

MacDonald is hoping the County Ground crowd make a lot of noise on his home debut this afternoon.

He said: “With the noise the 3,000 made at Coventry, if you now hope to get minimum 8,500 here on Saturday and they can get the same noise and raise it into perspective then it will help when things are going badly.”