Still expects ‘cream to rise’ as season reaches its conclusion

There’s still ‘all to play for’ according to Town chief John Still as the season enters its final third, writes Mark Wood.
Barnet v Luton Town, photos by Liam Smith. wk 52.Barnet v Luton Town, photos by Liam Smith. wk 52.
Barnet v Luton Town, photos by Liam Smith. wk 52.

Boss John Still believes that it will prove tight at the top, but believes the best teams will now gravitate towards the play-offs as the ‘cream rises to the top’.

He said: “We’re looking forward to it. As I say, I think we’re into the second half of the season now and it’s very exciting for everybody.

“I think that this is the time when the strong get stronger and the weak, get weaker, which isn’t a complaint about anything.

“The second half of the season, you see I think cream rises to the top normally and you’ll see the best teams rising up.

“Some of the teams you might see creaping up and it’s going to be tight at the top and there’s lots of good sides I really do think so.

“There’s lots of good sides that will really push on in the second half of the season.

“I think it will be a very, very, very exciting time for lots of clubs.”

Town have enjoyed a successful season to date, accumulating 57 points from 27 games as they lead the Skrill Premier, but are just one point ahead of nearest rivals Cambrdge United who have a game in hand.

But Still sees no reason to change anything they’ve been doing, saying: “We have no need to (alter anything), we’ve been very happy with what we do so we don’t really need to do much.

“We just need to go and play the games. This situation that you can find yourself in, this isn’t Luton, this is all teams.

“You find yourself in at any stage in the season and you just want to be able to say at all times, we’re in a decent position.

“We are in a decent position, Cambridge will be saying the same, I think Grimsby will probably be saying the same, probably most of the others would like to think they should have been a little bit closer, or hopefully a little bit closer, but I think us and Cambridge and Grimsby will all be saying that we are in a really, really good position.

“The ones just outside that, Gateshead, Kidderminster, Alfreton, might, if they are thinking of winning the league, like to be a few points closer.

“But there’s lots of games to play yet. For all of the teams, they can’t take nothing for granted.

“They can’t assume that they’ll win games that they’ll like to think they’ll win.

“They can’t rely on other teams to not win. We’ve got to go and win games ourself now.”

And Still’s focus remains entirely on his own team, despite how tight it is at the top.

He added: “I’m in a fortunate position, I don’t look at other teams anyway. The only team I’m worried about is Luton.

“But I know lots of other teams will look at us, and probably at Cambridge, and maybe Grimsby and say if they drop points here, if they drop points there...

“So I’m saying to you, don’t worry about other teams! Worry about yourself.”