Head Coach Neil Fowkes says if Nottingham can follow the game plan, they could have some opportunities to win the match against Coventry at The Bay tomorrow. He said: “It is a big opportunity to get points in the Championship when the teams come to The Bay.”
Talking about the three changes in the line-up team, he talked about the big loss of the fly-half Thomas Curtis who is missing this week, but he said that is a good opportunity for some players who are going to receive game minutes.
He said: “Unfortunately, Tom Curtis and Josh Poullet have picked up knocks. They shouldn’t be out for too long but they’re missing this week. That mean a positional change for Ed Coulson who moves to ten and Harry Graham comes in on the wing with Jack Stapley moving to full-back.
“Willie Ryan came on at Ampthill and drove us forward and really gave us a chance to get back in to that game so I’m looking forward to seeing him go in the back row.”
Talking about the rest of the team, he said that they are having good combinations between them, and he trust in the squad. They need to be more consistent in different aspects of the game, but he knows that with the hard work and the good doing of the squad, they can have a lot of chances in the game.
“We’re still building those combinations and building the players in,” said Fowkes. “We’ve got a large squad this year so there’s depth in there that will get their opportunities as well. Building a little bit of continuity this week is important. Bringing Jake Farnworth back in to the squad this week after he picked up a knock is nice as well.”
To conclude, and referring to Coventry, Neil Fowkes expects a very tough game, with a well-organised Coventry side, as they demonstrated in the past few seasons, and with a lot of ambition to win the game.
He said: “They’ve been hit like the rest of us with the pandemic and the RFU cuts. They’ve changed their model slightly but they will always be one of the big spenders in the league and have a lot of their players full-time.
“We’re expecting a well-organised full-time team coming to The Bay this weekend. They play with a lot of ambition and a lot of width which will be great to see at Lady Bay. We will play with our own ambition and own width and try to get our game out there and impose that.”
To finish the interview, Fowkes talked about the importance of the fans in the ground, and how much they miss the support and the crowd at Lady Bay.
“It’s a massive shame that the fans aren’t in because when we’ve played Coventry at The Bay in the past, we’ve had really good support and a really good atmosphere. Hopefully there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s a great idea to let the fans have the engagement with the live streams. Its not the same as having them around the field but the boys know that people are tuning in to watch.”
