Groves Injury Woes May Exclude Him

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 21/01/2002

PAUL GROVES said he faces a race against time to be fit for the Rotherham game. "It's a problem that's related to my back. I had it over Christmas and it's just a continuation of that. It's difficult to tell how long I'll be out. Sometimes the back is able to heal itself quicker than you expect."

"Hopefully, we're talking days not weeks but it's an area that can give you problems," he said in an interview with the Grimsby Telegraph.

On the Crewe game Goroves said" It was a big game for us and on the day they could have had more goals. We looked very tentative to start, whether it was because it was a big game - I don't know - but we seemed to carry it over from midweek and never started very well."

Asked if the York match had had an effect, he said "It looked like it had an effect and I don't think we can use it as an excuse. All the games towards the end of the season are massive ones and we can't afford to approach them like that."

"You cannot single people out when we started as we did collectively. We played some football at the end of the game, but the most important thing was to start well. We have done that recently, and not doing that is what cost us."

On the penalty, Groves said: "It came in and whether I was off balance or what I am not sure, but my decision was a wrong one and I have ended up handballing it - not meaning to do that, but that is how it ended up."

"I thought Robert Taylor did well, his hold up play was good, his appreciation of other people around him was good. He was somebody to hit with the ball, go into and play off, and I think he made a difference for us."

"We created one or two chances and our approach play was better - which is encouraging - but the game is about scoring goals."

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