Andy Woodman feels that Bromley is “not a pressure environment” ahead of their League Two trip to Barrow.
Woodman’s Ravens make the 325-mile trip to Barrow tomorrow (28 March) sat top of the table whilst their hosts are rock bottom and two points adrift of safety, in a massive clash affecting both ends of the table.
Victories in their next three matches coupled with results elsewhere swinging in their favour could see Bromley secure promotion at home to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday 7 April, but Woodman is relaxed about the challenges ahead as he feels that the club has managed the pressure well in his pre-match interview on YouTube.
“We just sometimes look back at all the critics and all the experts at the beginning of the season that had us down as mid table and then consistently kept saying that we’ve fallen away and I don’t think we’ve been on anyone’s tongues or have names been anywhere near the top of the table in any conversation.
“So that just takes all the pressure off us in house. We know what we’ve got to achieve and we know we’ve still got to achieve it. Um and I think you know the atmosphere and the culture and the environment that we’ve got here you know, it’s not a pressure environment.
“We kind of put our own pressure on ourselves. That’s you know that’s the professionalism of us.”
The 54-year old proceeded to add that the players’ attitudes have been crucial to their ability as a team to cope with the pressure of the promotion race, which has seen them go on a current 21-match unbeaten run.
“I think it’s characters and personalities are the most important. You know that we have a good group, a really good sort of bunch of players. They’re all together. There’s no sort of splits or divides and that always come with success as well.
“Um, but yeah, the actual group of players are a bit special like that. They’re a real good bunch of people human beings and professionals.”
That historic 21st match without defeat came from Nicke Kabamba’s 73rd-minute winner at home to Colchester last weekend in a 1-0 victory, which Woodman felt was “tough” and “quite stretched end to end”, albeit with luck going their way.
The result also meant that Bromley have kept clean sheets in their last three matches which Woodman believes an important ingredient in a successful promotion.
“Absolutely. Clean sheets whilst getting promoted get you success and we got to keep making sure we get clean sheets. We’ll always create chances. We got to take chances.”
Woodman also considers Kabamba to be “a real important member” of the team whilst Michael Cheek is still sidelined due to injury, as he credited the 33-year old for his patience this season with the shape which saw Cheek often played alone up top with Kabamba brought on as an impact substitute off the bench.
“Nicke is a top striker, you know, and uh at times he’s probably found himself a bit frustrated with the shape we’ve played, one striker up top. But Nicke has never stopped training hard, never stopped being professional, never stopped supporting the group.
“Uh, and uh, you know, he’s got some important goals for us, Nicke, and he’ll continue to get important goals for us to do this season.”
Bromley beat Barrow by a 2-1 result at home in South London in November’s international break through Kabamba’s late winner, but Woodman feels that Barrow will still pose a serious test despite their slump since that meeting.
“Yeah they were on the back of a little run then. I think they had a really good start. Don’t think they’ve been beaten in seven games at that point. Um they’ve had a difficult season since then. A few manager changes etc. etc. But it’s still going to be a tough game.
“Going to Barrow is a real tough place to go and get a result. So we’ve got to make sure that we really are on it. We turn up. We’re ready to go and we kind of just take care of our business and go in there, get our points and hope to come away before we even get back down the road.”
Last season’s trip to Barrow marked Bromley’s final away game of that campaign and saw the Ravens come from behind on three occasions in a 3-3 draw, which has left Woodman hoping for a better result this time round.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be a different outcome as that, you know, in that respect. Uh because there’s a little bit more at stake for both teams. So it’s going to be a different day, I’m sure. Again we’ve just got to make sure we just take care of what we do.”
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