Bromley manager, Andy Woodman has urged his players to “unlock” teams below them in the League Two table in their bid for promotion.
Woodman’s Ravens produced their worst display of the season as they failed to register any shots on target amidst a wide shot from Michael Cheek, whilst Nicke Kabamba’s header found the side-netting as their unbeaten run extended to 16 matches.
Their lead at the summit of League Two however was reduced to just two points after Cambridge United clinched a late 2-0 victory at rock-bottom Newport County to go second, following Swindon’s 2-1 home loss to Crewe Alexandra.
Woodman however felt that the scrappy lacklustre performance was to be expected given that Harrogate are fighting for their EFL survival, as he reflected on the display in his pre-match preview on YouTube for the Ravens’ home clash against Accrington Stanley tomorrow (28 February).
“Yeah, it was a tough sort of key affair with not a lot of goal action from either team. Um, and I think you know, we’re going to find that teams down the bottom are not going to give up anything and make the game tight and tough and it’s for us to unlock them.
“That said, you know, we equally don’t want to leave ourselves open at those games with our tricky games and get done on the sort of sucker punch. So it becomes that sort of game. I want my team to be brave. I want my team to be really bold on what we’re trying to do and really, you know, push ourselves to get that win.
“And we kind of tried it sort of last 10 or 15 minutes, but I need my team to be doing that from the off. Um, that’s taken nothing from Harrogate. You know they’ve had a good sort of good points and results just lately and that’s what they’re going to do.
“We’re going to find that for a lot of teams down there.”
Omar Sowunmi made his first start at Harrogate since his return from a shoulder injury which left Woodman pleased although the 54-year old’s priority was a clean sheet to extend their unbeaten run to 15 matches.
“Yeah, Omar coming back was a positive for sure. I don’t think we should overlook a clean sheet.
“I know it’s away to Harrogate and you know people would be thinking that it should have been a clean sheet but clean sheets are important as well. So there are some positives out of the game and we’ve kept this you know unbeaten run going.
“So, you know, there are positives we take out of it and even, you know, the not so glamorous parts of our game that we didn’t do particularly well, we worked on it this week to make sure that we’re better equipped and we’re learning as well of what we got to do to break these teams down.”
Woodman however revealed that Kyle Cameron is still sidelined as he explained that the defender is dealing with an ankle injury.
“Yeah, Kyle’s still not fit. Um, he’s got a problem with his ankle. Um so, he’s still out for a little bit longer at the moment.”
With only Cameron ruled out, there is plenty of competition for starting spots in the squad which has left Woodman thrilled at the challenge of choosing his matchday squads from game to game.
“Yeah. And that is the beauty of the quality of the squad I’ve got now. You know, when you see people like Carl Jenkinson, you know, around the squad who hasn’t been named for a little while. Um, you know, you got Marcus Dinanga still waiting in the wings.
“That is the beauty of the squad to name just those two. So, you know, that puts us in a good position going into this sort of last quarter of the season. Um, and they all know that they’ve got to get in the squad.
“It’s not me leaving them out for any other reason other than the team’s doing well and the team’s been winning or not been getting beat. So, they’ve all got to keep on top of it in training and keep pushing.”
Bromley are currently preparing to face Accrington with Woodman happy at their “positive” efforts in training to work on their weaknesses against Harrogate, but feels that his team are facing a tough test against an Accrington team who’ve “… overall been on good form.”
Deji Elerewe headed in a late winner in Bromley’s 1-0 away win at Accrington in December 2025 but Woodman is wary of the same challenges, as he praised the ‘Owd Reds for their performances and has tipped them to quietly target a play-off spot.
“I say all the time the margins are the margins. You know could be one set piece could be one just one ball in the right area in in that goal.
“Accrington in my opinion have done really well. I think everyone at the beginning of the season was tipping them to be one of the favourites to get relegated. They’ve got an astute manager. They, you know, they’re good.
“They’re a good team, good players, and they’ve got a style of how they play and an identity and they’re executing that particularly well. You know, I think before the last couple of results, they had won seven out of ten.
“So, you know and I think also we shouldn’t lose sight, but they probably hoping quietly that the playoffs is their target, you know, and that’s why we’ve got to make sure that we’re on it and we make sure we’re at home and we’re on the front foot and we really sort of put the pressure on Accrington areas in the right time.”
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