Skipper refutes suggestion from Accrington boss that Boro feel tie is already over

BORO skipper Mark Roberts refuted the suggestion from Accrington boss John Coleman that the Stevenage players feel they have already done enough to earn their place in the play-off final at Old Trafford on May 28.

Coleman felt the way the home players acted towards their own supporters after the final whistle indicated to him that Boro may feel the tie is already over.

Coleman said: “Just a word of caution, just by the way they were reacting after the game you’d have thought they had won it, but believe me – there’s a long way to go in this tie.

“They can choose to do whatever they want (after the match) but I just get the feeling they think they’ve done enough now but they clearly haven’t been to Accrington lately because we’re a totally different proposition at home.”

However Roberts insists Coleman could not be further from the truth in his assessment and says he and his teammates will be keeping their feet firmly on the ground leading up to Friday’s second leg.

“You’ve got to enjoy victories, obviously, but we never get carried away,” Roberts told The Comet.

“We’ve been in a semi final before where we’ve been in the lead and not won the tie so we want to go there and win……It’s a strong platform for us to build upon but we all know it’s only half time in the tie and there’s still a lot of hard work for us to do.

“Even at 2-0 we still wanted to push on and get a few more goals but we’ll take an advantage up there and we’re pleased.

“They’ve got a very strong home record, which we respect, and it’s another challenge for us but we’re full of confidence and we’ll be going there to win the game.

“We’ve never gone into a game setting out to defend and it will be no different on Friday. We’ll go there to try and win the game and I’m sure we will.

“It’s up to us to take charge of the conditions up there – the atmosphere, the ground – obviously we’ve already played there earlier this season so we’ve got that experience to take on board. We want to make sure we start the game well and get on top of the conditions.”

Roberts was also keen to stress the differences between this tie and that of two seasons ago when Boro were beaten by Cambridge United in the 2009 play-off semi final despite taking a two-goal lead into the second leg away from home.

He added: “Some of us will have learnt from that experience which is invaluable but we’re a different team, we’re a different squad. The dressing room is full of confidence but our feet are on the ground and we know we’ve got a lot of hard work to do ahead of Friday.”