Forest Green boss Robbie Savage rued the absence of suspended striker Ricardo Rees as his side were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home against struggling Altrincham.
A profligate lack of finishing haunted Rovers once more, as Altrincham struck first through Oliver Crankshaw in the 11th minute. Substitute Jayden Clarke pulled Forest Green level after the break, but the hosts were unable to find a winner.
“We miss Ricardo Rees,” Savage said. “That’s why I brought Ricardo, because we’ve had forwards on the pitch who don’t get across the near post, who react.
“You know, they’re not proactive, they’re reactive. And unfortunately, once again, I’m boring everybody saying about the chances to recreate. 27 chances to their seven, 23 shots again, and we’ve scored one goal. Same every week. What more as a coaching team and a staff can we give to our players to make them put the ball in the net? Well, the answer is Ricardo Rees.”
Savage was pleased with the impact of Clarke, who came off the bench to grab a goal: “Jayden (Clarke) was brilliant when he came on. I thought Jili (Buyabu) was outstanding in the second-half, thought Chibby (Nwoko)was outstanding in the second-half and the team were outstanding in the second-half.”
Savage was nothing but transparent when admitting his first-half formation was “maybe” wrong: “I stand here every week and praise my players. I thought second-half, what a performance in a 4-4-3, but we had to change it because I’m giving people opportunities all the way since my time have come and it takes us 45 minutes to get going and in the shape of 4-1-4-1, their goal, we started the game so well on the press.
“You can see it, we were winning the ball high, we were man for man, and then what we thought we’ll do is when we’re in the same position, we’ll sit off. We’ll sit off and not press. And then there’s no communication on the back line, Tom Knowles doesn’t get across, Mendy doesn’t get across, Kanu doesn’t get across. And it’s just an awful goal to concede, especially after we started so well with the press. But then all of a sudden, our players think we haven’t got to press them. And it was a great goal from them in terms of the way they worked it, but they weren’t allowed to do that in 10 minutes. And then the goal. And again, I’ve had to make changes at half-time, go 4-4-2. And second-half, my players were magnificent.
“I always defend my players, but maybe I got the shape wrong. You know, I’ll take the criticism. Maybe I got the shape wrong in the first half. Maybe I’m too honest. Maybe I’m trying to give everyone an opportunity. And maybe I got it wrong first half. I’ll take it from my players, as I always do. The second-half, we were absolutely magnificent, but inevitably, if you can’t move first contacts and headers, if you can’t put the ball in the back of the net, which is the hardest thing to do in the world, it’s quite remarkable.
“They work their socks off every single week. You’ve seen the dynamism in the team. You’ve seen it. I’m never going to question my players for that effort. And the effort they’ve given the second-half, they were tremendous. Unbelievable. They kept going, trying to find that winner. But inevitably, if you have that many balls across the box from corners or balls flashing across and nobody runs across the near post or nobody makes the first contact, we’re not going to win games of football, but we will when Ricardo’s back.”
Altrincham nosed ahead on 11 minutes – Jimmy Knowles whizzed down the outside for Crankshaw to fizz over the arm of Harry Isted.
Rovers found their feet. Kyle McAllister picked Otis Khan’s pocket and pulled the trigger inside the box – inducing a strong glove from Luke Hutchinson with 23 minutes on the clock. The visitors remained a threat – Crankshaw denied his second of the evening – Isted saving well with his feet.
Savage shuffled his pack at the break. Hooking Neil Kengni, Nick Haughton and Bristol City loanee Elijah Morrison for Jayden Clarke, Harvey Bunker and Kairo Mitchell. Rovers found a foothold in the match. Laurent Mendy watched his header scooped up by Hutchinson as Rovers chased parity.
Clarke made an immediate impact pulling the trigger from 30 yards for Hutchinson to take off and push the ball away. However moments later Clarke levelled on 58 minutes – fizzing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Clarke was on his mettle – Hutchinson gathering from distance as Altrincham were pinned back. Hutchinson clawed a Jili Buyabu rocket as Rovers continued to knock on the door.
In stoppage-time, Clarke saw his skidder blocked on the line by team-mate Kairo Mitchell as Altrincham stood firm.
GAFFER TAPES: Listen to Robbie Savage’s post-match synopsis
Forest Green: Isted, Knowles (53′ Pemberton), Mendy (c), Kanu, Kengni (46′ Clarke), Buyabu, Nwoko, McAllister, Haughton (46′ Bunker), Morrison (46′ Mitchell), Babalola
Subs (not used): Pagel, Moore, Kircough
Altrincham: Hutchinson, Jones (77′ Golden), Cooper, Sassi, Humbles (77′ Grant), Marriott, Crawford, Khan, Crankshaw (90+4′ Forde), Kosylo, Knowles (77′ Reddin)
Subs (not used): Fallon, Kirk, Weaver
Attendance: 1,251
Away fans: 15
Star Man: Jili Buyabu
