TOWN skipper Alan McCormack has called on supporters to turn out in numbers to support the team after witnessing a capacity crowd for Tuesday evening’s Capital One Cup clash with Aston Villa.
With the dust now settled on Swindon’s dramatic cup exit, McCormack sat down with the official website to preview Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Macclesfield and began by looking back on the Villa clash and described the moment when Miles Storey’s clever flick forged an equaliser for Swindon.
“It was brilliant,” he beamed. “There was a sense of ‘is this really happening’ and at 2-2 we thought we can go and win this: we were still creating chances with Matty (Ritchie) on one side, Gary (Roberts) and Raffa (De Vita) on the other pinging all sorts of balls in. They couldn’t defend some of Matt Ritchie’s deliveries which were superb.
“We have just got to keep going, just keep working hard. The boys were distraught and disappointed but you learn from this. To go out against a Premier League side of that quality and how we went out we gave them a right old game tonight, I’m sure they got a scare.”
Having seen The County Ground packed to the rafters against the Villains, McCormack praised the fans’ impact and issued a rallying cry to supporters ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup First Round tie.
“The support on Tuesday night was massive. The part they played and how they cheered the boys on - every attack that went in you could feel the ground shaking at times and that has an affect no matter what crowd you play against.
When it’s a packed house and the home fans are cheering it gives you that lift no matter what so please God, the fans that turned up on Tuesday that don’t usually turn up, they must have been entertained and I hope to see them on Saturday.
“Whether it be Macclesfield, Aston Villa or a League One side, just get down and support us - you know you’re going to be entertained down here and the more support we have the better.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, the Irishman insisted that minds must be focused on the task in hand against their lower league opposition.
He continued: “We’ve got to show our quality and why we’re playing at a higher level than Macclesfield. We’ve got to go out with 100% concentration like Aston Villa did on Tuesday in the first half: they were on it, they pressed high, they kept the ball, they worked hard for each other and that’s what we’ve got to be.
“We can’t just go out and expect to roll Macclesfield over because they are going to come with nothing to lose like we did on Tuesday and we’ve got to be on it. We can’t allow for any mistakes. This is going to be one of our toughest games so far and 100% concentration is needed on Saturday.”
