We Have Nothing To Fear From Fratton Park

Manager Mark Yates has said that Cheltenham have nothing to fear as we head towards a trip to Fratton Park tomorrow.

Of course it’s a fantastic ground and Portsmouth regularly pull in fantastic figures that are more fitting for a club much higher than our level, and the atmosphere created at their ground this season speaks for itself, but speaking to the Official Site our gaffer said we had nothing to fear from the atmosphere and he tipped the players to rise to the challenge and keep our own form and improvement going.

‘We have won two out of the last three and had a mad 10 minutes against Chesterfield so six points from three tough games in a decent return. The games are coming thick and fast for us now and a couple of different challenges for us on the back of a win and we’re down at Fratton Park to play Portsmouth where there will be a decent crowd and that is something else for us to deal with.’

Yates admits it’s probably easier said than done, but we simply have to ignore the crowd and not let it affect us so we can focus on playing our game, frustrating them, and if anything get their crowd to work for us by frustrating them.

What really matters is he doesn’t feel there is much better the sides in terms of quality, so there is nothing to fear from the game and what is of more importance for us is.

‘We must play with the same attitude and work ethic and, if we do that, then we’ll give ourselves a good chance because we aren’t bad on the road.’

The gaffer also admits that David Noble is now travelling with the squad and could figure following his injury problems, as he’s had a good week on the training pitch and now we know the issue it can be managed effectively to get him pitch time, but it is unlikely he will start.