Gavin Allen stresses the importance for local players at Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth Town manager Gavin Allen has hailed the positive feeling in the Seasiders’ dressing room after a change of culture at the club this summer. 

Allen was named first-team manager of the club in June and acted quickly to recruit a youthful side of players local to Aberystwyth. 

The Seasiders’ boss has highlighted the importance of recruiting locally in order to build a positive dressing room. 

“I think the first game when we played against Cardiff Met, we had six locals in the team, we had six locals on the pitch on Friday, we had five against Penybont. That’s where we’re going.

“When I took over this year, I really looked into how you can develop a dressing room and I find it really difficult to develop a dressing room when you’ve got players that are travelling.

We had some from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and a couple of Shrewsbury boys.

“It has been happening here for many years. It is a very hard thing to try and get that enthusiasm, the right mentality into the dressing room and Aberystwyth isn’t an easy place to get to.

“It’s vital that we’ve looked at it in a completely different way. We’ve got eight locals in the squad and it is their club. There’s huge positivity in the squad, especially with the boys that we’ve brought in.

Allen added a blend of youth and experience to his squad this summer, with signings like Jonathan Evans, Sam Barnes and Steff Davies providing experience.

“What I’ve said to myself this year is that you can’t have eleven players who are in that age group between 18 to 22 years old,” stressed the Aber boss.

You’ve got to have that little bit of knowledge with someone like Marc Williams.

“He brings a huge amount of experience to the team. We brought Gwion (Owen) and Ilan Hughes from Ruthin, they’re 26-27 years old.

“They’re players that have played and have got that bit of knowledge into they’re football games and that will rub off on the young boys.

“At this moment in time, the boys are working their absolute socks off to make sure that they’re fit and they’re ready for the next three or four games that we’ve got back-to-back.

In a summer of high profile signings in the Cymru Premier, one move that certainly went under the radar was the signing of Jonathan Evans from Penrhyncoch, who already has two goals to his name this season. 

“Everyone knows around the area with Jonny that the talent has always been there. It’s getting to know Jonny, trying to work with Jonny and trying to get into his head basically.

“There are more positives than negatives in his game, his work rate at this moment in time is second to none for the team.

“That’s one principle I’ve said this year is we go forward as a team and we defend as a team, we don’t create massive gaps between us, which is going to be a fitness element again.

“Jonny’s been a breath of fresh air since he’s come in, he’s a bubbly character and is well known around the town,” added Allen.

“It’s brilliant to see that he’s grabbed hold of his shirt and he’s tried to keep that shirt on his back to make sure nobody takes his place. At this moment in time, I’m very happy with Jonny.”

Since his appointment as first-team manager, Allen has also handed opportunities to prospects like Alex Pennock, Harri Rowe and Jack Rimmer this season. 

The Aberystwyth Town boss believes it is of paramount importance for young players to experience minutes on the pitch. 

“The way I see it is we’ve got to give these individuals an opportunity and I mean having six months of playing in the Cymru Premier.

“I know in previous years, in a lot of clubs, they don’t look at local players.

“Big funding has come into secure academies here in Wales and we’ve got to give opportunities to these players. They’ve got to be embedded in slowly, not thrown into the deep end.”

Having recorded four points from their opening three games, Gavin Allen’s side now face the prospect of a clash with Newtown on Friday, which the Seasiders’ boss admits will be a “tough game”.

“I don’t really listen to the table when you see Newtown down the bottom. They’ve got a wealth of experience in their squad, some old heads there. Chris knows exactly what the league is all about. I’m expecting a tough game on Friday.

“You’ve only got to look at his (Chris Hughes) record to be honest. He’s been in the top six for the last two or three years. They’ve pipped us a couple of years to get into that sixth spot.

“But Chris, tactically, he’s got great staff with him with Callum McKenzie and he’s got a lot of experience in that team.

“Sometimes, the experience can do a lot, but sometimes when you’ve got the youthful side that we’ve got, we’ve got legs, we’re fit and the whole point of that is going there and getting another three points.

“We’ve got to have our expectations. If we want to get into that top six, three points on Friday would be massive. We’d be up to seven points and it’s up to the other teams then to catch us up.

“It should be a very interesting game, two tactical sides but overall, if we play as we have been, we should be alright.”

(Featured Image: Colin Ewart)