Old heads will see us through

Nov 23 2007 Chester Chronicle

Paul Butler has seen it all before. In a long and varied career, the veteran City skipper has been on the winning side in some memorable derby clashes. Here he tells The Chronicle how the Blues can come out on top in Sunday’s high- noon showdown.

I’VE played in plenty of derbies down the years and I know what kind of game to expect on Sunday.

It will be tense – both on and off the pitch – and you might have to wait until the second half to see somebody put their foot on the ball!

If we can look after our own emotions and control ourselves, we should have enough to get a result.

If we allow ourselves to get dragged into the occasion and get sucked in by the atmosphere, we will end up one player down and could lose the game. It’s as simple as that.

It’s down to the senior boys out on the pitch to control the rest of them. That’s my job, it’s Tony Dinning’s job, it’s John Murphy’s job and it’s Kevin Ellison’s job.

We just need to control it and play our own game.

We might have to wait until the last 15 or 20 minutes before it opens up, but we’ve got the kind of quality players who know what to do in that situation.

Although I’ve never played in a Chester- Wrexham derby before, my record in other derby matches is pretty good.

When I was at Bury, I scored the winner when we played Manchester City at Maine Road and we also held them to a draw at home.

At Wolves, we had a good record against West Brom and when I was at Sunderland I played in the epic game that got Ruud Gullit the sack from Newcastle – a 2-1 win at St James’ Park in 1999.

Over my career I’ve won more than I’ve lost and I hope that record continues on Sunday.

Derby matches are all about the fans. It’s about who has the bragging rights on a Monday morning and I know exactly how much our supporters would like to see us get a win at the Racecourse.

Statistics count for nothing in games like this. What counts is the 11 lads in the blue and white who will go out there to play against 11 players in red from eight miles down the road.

There will be a big build-up to the game for Wrexham because they have got a new manager in charge. You can be sure the players will be trying to impress him and make a difference.

We’re going into the game on the back of three defeats but we were always going to hit a bad run this season and hopefully we can get out of it quickly.

There are going to be plenty of ups and downs and it’s about how we ride the storm. We’re not going to go through the whole season winning every game.

We’re in a bit of a bad run but it’s a test of character.

Our away form has been good all season and I know there will be a lot of away fans in the ground on Sunday.

It’s your job to go out there and make plenty of noise and it’s our job to control our emotions and get a result.

Let’s hope it’s a great game – and that we get the three points.