January 29, 2026
Gibson praises Alty squad as hard yards pay dividends
Neil Gibson has praised his Altrincham squad after a demanding run of fixtures saw their hard work rewarded with an impressive couple of recent results in the Enterprise National League.
The Robins faced a challenging schedule, travelling to the North East to take on Hartlepool United before hitting the road again for a midweek clash with promotion contenders Forest Green Rovers. Three days later, Gibson’s side were back at The J Davidson Stadium to face third-placed Boreham Wood.
Despite minimal recovery time, Altrincham named an unchanged starting XI and delivered a commanding 3–1 victory over Boreham Wood, following a hard-earned 1–1 draw at Forest Green. The results have helped lift the Robins further clear of the relegation places and underlined the progress being made within the squad.
“I’m really pleased with the players,” said the Alty boss. “It’s credit to the group as a whole, because it has been a busy week or so for us, with so much travelling and such tough fixtures.
“We are trying to play a different way, a bit more possession-based, but with more energy, and when we turn the ball over, we want to press a little harder.
“We are now starting to see little shoots of what we are capable of, but it doesn’t happen overnight, and the players have had to put in a phenomenal amount of effort.
“Over the past week or so, they have basically worked seven days out of eight and have only had the Sunday as a day off.
“We have been searching for a formula, and after such a strong performance from each and every player at Forest Green, we felt they deserved to start again against Boreham Wood. It was such a quick turnaround, Wednesday to Saturday, but they were magnificent, full value for the scoreline.
“We can’t get carried away with the result, good though it was. It’s a starting point, but we must build on it and make sure we are ready to go again at Carlisle on Saturday.”
You can hear more from the gaffer - and central defender Jake Cooper - in their pre-match Alty TV interviews with Tom Jolley tomorrow afternoon, ahead of our Enterprise National League visit to Carlisle United on Saturday (tickets and travel info here).
