Boreham Wood match reaction with
Mark Hughes
17 August 2025
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During his Boreham Wood post-match interview manager Mark Hughes spoke about the nervousness he’d sensed in his squad in the lead-up to the first home encounter of the season and about the need for them to get used to the weight of expectation that comes with playing for one of the division’s bigger clubs.
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“There was a little bit of that, but it's the first game of the season,” he said. “We had a number of guys that hadn't played at the ground before and there's a big expectation on us.
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“These things can happen, we'll very quickly get that out of our system once we get a run of games where we show our confidence. We know our players will bring us on and we had good moments today.
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“We got ourselves into a winning position but we let ourselves down obviously in that latter period. We’ll be ok if we look to do the right things.”
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And close to 8,500 fans served as a reminder that there are a lot of people ready to play their part.
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“The fans were great again today, but we're disappointed that we weren't able to get the three points.
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“I think overall we deserved that, certainly by the manner of our second half performance, but you’ve still got to do your job, see the game out, and that's a skill in itself.
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“We’ve just got to be better in those similar situations that we find ourselves in because we will be in positions where we're leading and we have to manage the game out better than we did in this one.”
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An assist that helped Georgie Kelly to draw the scores level came just after the break from Luke Armstrong, adding to the goal he netted in Woking last weekend.
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“The way he’s doing things is a credit to himself,” the manager told us. “He came back with the attitude that he was going to have an impact for us and he's done great since I've been here.
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“I've been really impressed, not just his work rate but his ability to understand what's required. He's constantly on the move, uses up every last bit of energy that he's got to the benefit of the team, so those are the types of players you want.”
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Also lacking last season was a real presence in the dressing room and, at times, out on the pitch.
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“It’s a totally different group, so even from last year I'm more pleased with what we've got in there,” he insisted. “But they need to bounce back quickly from this.
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“It’s a disappointment but obviously over the last couple of seasons, those disappointments created losses.
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“We didn't lose today, although I know it feels like we did, up to a point. There are good games ahead for us and I think everybody thinks that we'll be fine if we keep going that way as well.”
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You can watch this interview our YouTube channel here:
