After achieving his first win as Forest Green Rovers boss on Sunday at home to promotion favourites Sheffield Wednesday, Duncan Ferguson believes his side can catapult themselves out from the relegation places, according to Stroud News & Journal.
Ferguson came to Gloucestershire with his only managerial experience coming as part of the coaching staff at Everton, as well as a few games in charge as caretaker manager, with a highlight being a victory over Chelsea.
Forest Green took a chance on the inexperienced manager in aim to stave off a losing battle, with relegation looking firmly on the cards. With just eight games of the League One season remaining, Forest Green sit 11 points behind Oxford United, with the U’s also having the fortune of a game in hand.
Forest Green’s fixtures towards the tail end of the season present tough tests, with four promotion battling teams in a row coupled up with two fellow relegation battling sides in Oxford and Cambridge United, if they come out of the next four games with a healthy points total, a perilous position of relegation might swing in their favour, and survival could be feasible.
The victory against Sheffield Wednesday was the first that Forest Green had tasted in the new year, with the last coming in early December against Cheltenham Town, and it was the first victory under the former Rangers and Everton player’s tenure.
You can infer from some of Forest Green’s games that they had come across unlucky not to pick up victories or even a point on the board, with many times they’d taken the lead and many times they’d let it slip.
But the result, beating Sheffield Wednesday was monumental, and it’s a victory which has made Duncan Ferguson confident his side will survive.
“We deserve more than we have got, today you could see how good the shape was, how hard the players have been working.
“Anything is possible, there are games to play and win and if we can play like that in every game then why can’t we win them all?
“I think everybody deserved that today, the boys put in an incredible shift and it was a proud moment for myself and the fans to topple one of the big boys in the league.
“You’ve got to be perfect for most of the game and I thought we were perfect for most of the game. They never created any chances, they played long balls in the box and we defended well.
Writers View
Although a victory against Sheffield Wednesday is a fantastic result for anyone in the league, not just Forest Green, I believe they’ve left themselves with too much to do after their recent run.
Of course, Duncan Ferguson is to have optimism after a win of the magnitude of Sheffield Wednesday, but their next run of games comes against all promotion-battling teams and with their points tally at the minute, they could get cut adrift with many games to go.
