Robbie Savage’s Forest Green Rovers, chasing a National League play-off spot, have been handed a huge fitness boost ahead of their trip to Tamworth tonight.
Hot-shot striker Ricardo Rees has unexpectedly returned to training this week after suffering what was thought to be a season-ending knee ligament injury. The Welshman, who joined Rovers in January from Merthyr, picked up the injury in the 2-0 win at Gateshead earlier this month.
A delighted Savage told Stroud Times: “Ricardo had such an unbelievable start and obviously we were devastated to lose him as we had all our players. But, you know, he’s running in straight lines. He’s healing very, very quickly and all the swelling’s gone, so he’s doing straight line running.”
Savage also revealed Sean Etaluku is edging closer to a return following his long-term hamstring issue: “Sean is 80% up to speed, so he’s probably next week get up to 90% and the week after joining with the first team. So that’s a massive plus as well. So hopefully, looking at probably two or three games to go of the season, hopefully we’ll have Ricardo and Sean back in this squad, which makes them stronger.”
With the transfer window slamming shut tomorrow, Savage said his business is now done: “We won’t be doing any business now. A lot of the business we’ve done early has been brought forward from the summer. The circumstances with people having buyout clauses, so we’ve had to move early. So we’ve done quite a lot of our work already ahead of it, and that was regardless of whatever league we were in, whether we were league two or the national league, we’ve probably got the majority of our squad already for next season is in place.
“Regardless of where we finish this year, hopefully we’ll finish in the playoffs. Hopefully we can go to Wembley and hopefully we can get promoted. You know, that’s what we got to believe. But if we don’t, the building blocks are there now. We’ve seen this team, can win any game, we can win any game of football on any given day, but what we are is a little bit inconsistent, vulnerability, but we’ve only been together for a short space of time and it’s a joy to work with this group.”
Listen to the unabridged Robbie Savage interview with Ash Loveridge in the audio below for the full discussion on Forest Green’s fitness boost, play-off hopes, and plans for next season.
Keeping his foot on the pedal, Savage believes his side need at least four wins from their final seven games of the regular season to rubber-stamp their play-off spot.
He said: “We’ll try to win every game, but let’s be realistic we’re not going to finish second or third. Are we going to finish fourth? Probably not. I think the best we’re looking at is 5th. We’ve got to try and look for that fifth place. We’re looking 4th, but realistically it’s probably out of our reach. So if we can get a home quarter final, first and foremost, can we finish in the top seven?
“Four wins will take us to 80 points and if you don’t get in the playoffs with 80 points, I think you’ll be very unlucky.
“Five wins out of seven definitely gets you in it. Realistically, you know, if Halifax go and win every single game and stuff and do, then they’ll deserve it. But we’ve got to look at five. Well, five wins guarantees you a playoff spot.”
Whichever division Rovers end up in, Savage insists his evolving squad are on the right pathway: “So we believe that the group we are building and the group we will build in the summer will be good enough for the National League, hopefully to win promotion if we haven’t already. If we do, then the group we build will be good enough for League 2.
“We’re building a culture and an environment where people want to come and play and enjoy themselves and entertain the fan base. And hopefully that will bring success, whether that’s this year, next year, or the year after, whatever that may be. But one thing’s for sure is that the blocks which are down now, the football club’s going to be in such a strong position coming the summer, whatever league it’s in.”
