Boro manager hoping players will end season with a crescendo

GRAHAM WESTLEY says he is looking forward to what will be a ‘special’ match for Stevenage Football Club.

Boro are just one victory away from securing successive promotions and the Boro boss says these are the occasions that you cherish in football.

“I have to be honest, I look forward to every game that we play whether it’s a County Cup game, a Football League game, an FA Cup game or a play-off final,” Westley told The Comet.

“But you can’t deny that a play-off final is a little bit special, though, with the added bonus of playing a game with such a massive prize on the end of it and winning a big prize is an art, there’s no question about that.

“What we do know is both clubs going into this weekend’s game are capable of winning big prizes. They won a place in the Football League through the play-offs, we won a league championship, turned over Newcastle, we won the FA Trophy at Wembley so both clubs are capable of winning the big prize and there can be no doubting either club’s credentials.

“I always say it – I don’t know whether people listen to me – but my belief is our team will get better across any season. Going from game to game and month to month you will always see our team getting better and better.

“I would like to think that the last three games are a reflection of that and I’d like to think that our best is yet to come. If we can finish the season on a real crescendo there will be no better way of ending what’s been a tough, yet enjoyable first season in the Football League.”

Boro only took a point off Torquay from the two meetings this season, just as they had from Accrington before the play-off semi final, and Westley hopes his team can show just how far they’ve improved since they last faced the Gulls back in March and suffered a 2-0 defeat.

He added: “It’s similar and different (to the Accrington semi-final fixtures) in the sense that we haven’t even scored against Torquay so we can’t underestimate what we’re going up against.

“I don’t underestimate any team we play against and I know they will be up for it. They’ve got good, experienced campaigners, they’re well led and they’ve got some bright, young talent in there as well so we’re going to have to get on top of them and make sure we can open up a defence led by a very tough player in Guy Branston.”