Boro boss says there was ‘no real energy’ from his players

Stevenage manager Graham Westley says fatigue played a part in his side’s defeat at home to Rotherham United.

Boro were put to the sword in a 3-0 scoreline by Steve Evans’ men at the Lamex Stadium, and afterwards Westley said that although he was not using it as an excuse fatigue certainly was a factor in his side’s display.

“I think we looked like a fatigued outfit and mentally the spark wasn’t there,” Westley said.

“The team spirit that has been so strong in the recent run of results was lacking, there was no real energy coming out of the players. Don’t get me wrong, fatigue isn’t an excuse but it was a factor today.”

Boro were missing Jon Ashton at centre-back for the second successive match, meaning Westley had to play Peter Hartley in the middle of the defence and start with Michael Doughty at left-back before moving Luke Freeman into that position midway through the first half.

Asked whether the re-organisation had a bearing on the result, Westley said: “Luke has played at full-back [before] and Michael filled in there the other night as well.

“Those two have covered that position for us. Obviously with Ash being out Peter Hartley our normal left-back isn’t available [at left back] but one positional change shouldn’t be a big an issue.

“You can see that [in] our 11 players that we’re trying to play and win games with there is a sense of mental fatigue I think and physical fatigue.

“We’re asking a lot of them, we’re sending the same XI out game after game after game and it looked like a very fatigued performance today.”