Must Improve - Spalding

Despite thumping eight goals past this Saturday’s opponents Slimbridge just over a month ago, Marine interim manager Lee Spalding is expecting a tough encounter when his side travel north to Gloucestershire writes Nick Taylor.

In the race for promotion and play-off places in the highly competitive Southern League- West Division, the Swindon-based side currently sit in fifth place on 62 points and with six matches still to play Spalding has stressed the importance to maintain their form which has seen them claim two wins and a draw in their last three fixtures, “I fully expect to go there and have a tough, competitive game! We must start better than we did last Saturday in our 2-2 draw at home to Mangotsfield. I thought we were poor for the first twenty minutes!”

Opponents Slimbridge find themselves just one place off the bottom of the standings, eight points ahead of Bishops Cleeve but who have a game in hand and with the bottom side being relegated, are themselves desperate for the three points on Saturday.

Marine will be encouraged with the knowledge that their hosts have won the fewest games on home soil and with Slimbridge having let in eight on their recent visit to The Webbs Wood Stadium on March 6th, thanks to goals from Joe Selman (3) Brad Gray (3) Connor Thompson & Zak Westlake, will head into the match as favourites.

However, having dropped two vital points last weekend in a 2-2 home draw with Mangotsfield, Spalding is keen to return to winning ways, “Nothing is given in this league so I’m fully expecting it to be a tough game. If we just turn up expecting them to roll over because we previously beat them 8-0, it’s just not going to happen!”

Spalding will have a near full squad to select from, with influential winger Joe Selman returning to training this week having missed recent games due to illness/back injury and top scorer Josh Parsons having notched up 90 minutes under his belt last week after his recent injury lay-off.

Read More At: Your Sport Swindon