City midfielder Matt Gill is looking forward to a reunion with his former Exeter team-mates today – just as long as the Canaries end up with the three points.
The Norfolk-born player enjoyed the most successful period of his career with the Grecians, gaining back-to-back promotions from the Conference under Paul Tisdale.
But he’s fully focused on turning them over today, after the game was given the go ahead this morning, despite further snow overnight.
And with the St James Park outfit deep in relegation trouble, sitting just two points above the drop zone, Gill will have to put friendship aside if he has a part to play this afternoon.
“It should be good,” Gill said yesterday, at a wintry Colney.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of them, especially recently when they wanted to know what the weather is like up here. I told them the game will be definitely be on and I’m looking forward to seeing them.
“They’ve been a little inconsistent and changed the team around a little bit but they’ll be hoping to go a run – starting against us. We need to put paid to that and continue the way we’ve been playing.
“I hope we can do that, especially with the home form we’re showing. We want to continue that and this match is a great opportunity to do that.”
After spending much of the season on the sidelines with knee and calf problems, Gill is having to bide his time with City in such a rich vein of form.
To be fair to the 29-year-old, he put in a solid showing as a half-time substitute against Millwall, with Paul Lambert describing his performance as “really, really fine.”
And he’s happy to wait in the wings with the Canaries gunning for an automatic promotion spot. Patience is the name of the game.
“I’ve just mainly been trying to get fit again. Obviously I had another setback at Stockport [when he picked up the calf injury], but recently I’ve been back and I was pleased to be involved against Millwall.
“The lads have been doing brilliantly and if we can continue doing that, so be it, hopefully so. It’ll be all the better for Norwich City, so let’s just hope we can continue that.
“I’m not frustrated as such – it is not about me, it is about the football club doing well. The harder it is for me to get in the team that means the better the lads are doing which is great for the football club.
“I’ll try as hard as I can to get into that team and, hopefully, stay in it if I get a chance. But the most important thing is for Norwich to be winning games and staying at the top of that league.”
With all but two games in League One postponed because of the weather, today’s clash with the Devon cub represents a great chance for City to open up a three point gap to third placed Charlton.
And Gill would certainly rather be playing than sat at home. The last thing City need is a backlog of matches at the business end of the season, especially with Tuesday’s rearranged Walsall encounter likely to fall foul of the weather yet again.
“I think it’s only us and Leeds on at the moment – it’s a pity Leeds are playing. I think points on the board are more important than games in hand.”
And is Gill dreaming of making it three promotions in three years? It would certainly be some achievement.
“If we can continue the way we’re playing we’ve got a great chance. The run that the lads have been on is unbelievable and it’s been great to be a part of that during the past few weeks.
“It’s an important time now we’re in the New Year. The manager has said it’s almost like a fresh start and we managed to grind out a 1-0 win last weekend, let’s hope we can get another three points against Exeter.”
Leave a Reply