Andy Woodman has called for Bromley to treat their Carabao Cup first-round tie against Reading “as if it’s the first game of the season”.
The opening round of the Carabao Cup has traditionally fallen in the midweek in-between the opening two matches of the league campaign, but the EFL this season opted to move the first round to the weekend before the league fixtures commence.
Bromley therefore will play host Reading tomorrow (8 August) at the CopperJax Stadium in a 3pm BST kick-off, live on Sky Sports+ Red Button in the UK, with the winner advancing to the second round which is scheduled for midweek of 25-27 August.
This move has been welcomed by Woodman in his pre-match preview as he explained that the team have been hard at work in the wake of two contrastable final pre-season performances in the space of 21-and-a-half hours, which saw one XI lose 7-0 at home to QPR and the other XI draw 1-1 at Barnet last weekend.
“It’s been good to have a clear week and the lads have been grafting hard. Everyone is focused and ready to go for this Carabao Cup tie against Reading.
“I know it’s a new season in a new league, but it does feel like a ‘here we go again’. However, it has been a whirlwind of a summer compared to those previously. It’s just been non-stop trying to make the squad as strong as possible.”
The 54-year-old manager added that his team will treat this tie like the opening game of the season given that it’s a competitive fixture and now on a weekend rather than midweek, which usually saw managers field fringe and youth players at this stage.
“We’ll approach Reading as if it’s the first game of the season, whether it’s a cup fixture or not. I personally think it’s a good move that they’ve changed it to a Saturday. We’ll be taking it very seriously that’s for sure.”
Bromley will be without Grant Smith in goal due to a stress fracture whilst summer signing, Deon Woodman is ruled out with a hamstring injury but could return for their League One debut match at Barnsley on 15 August.
“It’s hard to tell with Grant at the moment. It’s a stress injury so he needs rest and then assess how he recovers so it’s very difficult to put a timeline on that.
“As for Deon, he’ll be back in a week or so so he’s OK.”
Bromley last season enjoyed two memorable nights under the lights at the CopperJax Stadium in this competition as they beat Ipswich on penalties live on Sky Sports in the first round, before they lost to Wycombe Wanderers in a shootout in the second round after both ties finished in 1-1 draws.
Woodman acknowledged the magic of those evenings as he explained that the team’s focus is now on winning this tie, which would allow them to potentially bring that spirit back to the stadium for future rounds this season depending on how draws play out.
“Yeah good nights, You remember that they are good nights under the lights and the midweek ones that were before. And we’ve got to make sure we bring some more of those nights here to the CopperJax Stadium and uh we’ll be trying our hardest as always.”
“You know, we’ll be doing what we do and making it as awkward and as uncomfortable for the opposition.
“That said, we’ll be making sure that we execute our game plan and make sure we sort of take care of our business that we always try to do.”
Former captain, Byron Webster retired this summer and Woodman has refused to publicly name his new captain other than hinting that final discussions are still to take place.
“I still haven’t selected my captain for this season. I’ve got two conversations to have, but I know where I want to go with it. I just need to make sure that it’s all as it should be. I want a good captain like we had with Byron. Watch this space.”
Woodman also called on supporters to play their part this season because League One will be tough and feels that the support from fans will be crucial to their campaign.
“The fans are going to be important all season. We’re now up a league and the facilities are getting better so it’s the perfect time to be a Bromley fan.
“I hope we keep growing the fanbase and I hope the current supporters feel more connected to us than probably other clubs.
“We’re going to have good days and bad days, but the main goal is to get right behind this football team. They’ve been the difference on many a tough afternoon recently and we need that again this season.”