Like a sponge, Robbie Savage says he will absorb every piece of insight available when legendary former Forest Green manager Frank Gregan returns to The New Lawn this weekend.
Savage will welcome Gregan back to the New Lawn when the former Rovers’ boss makes a flying visit to Nailsworh to watch his old club take on Braintree Town tomorrow, Saturday.
Now living in Spain and a published author, the former sergeant major joined Rovers in 1994 – leading his side to back-to-back promotions into the National League and Wembley final. Gregan transformed the club from non-league minnows, charting the way for what they have gone on to achieve under the late Trevor Horsley’s successor Dale Vince.
Savage in full: no cuts, no edits pre-match press conference – listen now
“What he’s done for this football club is brilliant,” said Savage. “I’m excited to meet him on Saturday – he’s given me so much positivity through direct messaging and if I can be half as successful as him as he was here, I will be doing fine.
“I’ll invite him into my room, manager’s room. and find out more about the club, what it was like, which I love doing my research on clubs, but if I can get his insight as well, which will be brilliant, and I can find out about this club from somebody of his experience will be great. I’m sure the club has changed a lot since he managed them. I hope we give him the welcome he deserves.”
After collecting eight points across the Easter period and maintaining a strong position in the table, the club now sits nine points clear of the play-off line with a significant goal difference advantage. While qualification is not yet mathematically confirmed, Savage acknowledged that it would take “bizarre circumstances” to miss out.
“We’ve put ourselves in a really strong position,” said Savage. “The focus now is to build momentum and prepare for what looks likely to be an away play-off tie.”
With three league matches remaining, attention is already turning toward tactical preparation. Savage confirmed that the upcoming fixtures will be used to explore different systems and solutions, including potential changes in formation, as the team adapts for knockout football.
“This is an opportunity to look at different approaches,” he added. “We want to win every game, but also make sure we’re ready with the right structure and strategy for the playoffs.”
There was positive news on the injury front, with key attacking players returning ahead of schedule. Ricardo Rees and Sean Etalaku are expected to be available from the bench this weekend, while Kairo Mitchell is nearing full fitness and could feature soon. However, Savage confirmed that Reading loanee Abraham Kanu will miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
“Ricardo and Sean will be on the bench on Saturday. Credit to our medical staff and credit the players. Ricardo’s back two weeks earlier than expected and Sean is on his 16th week and they said 16 weeks, so it’s almost gone to plan. They’re two players who can contribute massively in the next three weeks. At the same time, we’re disappointed to lose Kanu, who has been excellent for us.”
Looking ahead, Savage remains both realistic and ambitious about the challenge to come: “Hopefully we can deliver it the next three games because we want to win every game and get to 84 points. And if we can do that, that’ll be 24 wins.
“The team got 22 wins last year and we’ve got more goals. So if we can do that, it’ll be a remarkable season. And if we can do well in the play-offs and win it, wow, it’ll be what dreams are made of. We’ll likely go into the play-offs as underdogs, but we believe in ourselves and if we can carry this form forward and find the right balance, anything is possible.”
