Roma trusts players to deal with derby day

Dom Roma will trust his players to deal with the potentially fractious nature of Gainsborough's Boxing Day derby against Boston United.
Action pics from the Gainsborough V Boston match. Gainsborough.  Trinity in Blue kitAction pics from the Gainsborough V Boston match. Gainsborough.  Trinity in Blue kit
Action pics from the Gainsborough V Boston match. Gainsborough. Trinity in Blue kit

The two near neighbours will do battle on Monday, when for the first time Roma will pit his managerial wits against the Pilgrims’ recently appointed boss Adam Murray.

Both sets of fans will be relishing the York Street clash and while Roma will make his players aware of the fixture’s significance, the way they choose to react is entirely down to them.

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He said: “I’ll address that it’s a derby game and what it means to both sets of fans, but players react differently to situations and it’s something I’ll let them sort out for themselves.

“As a player I always used to look forward to the derby games as much as the fans as and I’m sure my players will be no different.

“It’s a good pair of games for us to pick up some points going into the new year.”

Former Mansfield boss Murray will have other ideas however, keen to enlarge the two-point lead his Boston side currently have over Trinity.

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Roma acknowledges the Pilgrims might be a different proposition under the new man.

“With a change in management you normally see an upturn in fortune,” he said.

“Their players might respond differently to how they did previously, so we will have to do our due diligence on them as we do all our opponents.

“It will be a good test for me locking horns with a young manager who has Football League experience and one I’m looking forward to, as I do any manager at this level.”

Trinity, who host the return fixture on New Year’s Day, hope to have a fully fit squad to choose from on Monday, for the first time in a number of weeks.