Ilford manager Allan Fenn is hoping the changes he has made to his squad this week will enable them to finish the Essex Senior League season strongly.

The Foxes travel to Eton Manor on Saturday looking to get firmly back on track. After beating FC Romania on February 8, Ilford saw their 11-game unbeaten run ended at Basildon United last weekend.

Bees defeated the Cricklefield Stadium outfit 3-1 and Fenn has since decided to shake up the personnel in his squad.

He said: “FC Romania is what we can do. I only had four subs that night, but we are hoping to show that on a more consistent basis now.

“I hope we have some good refs over the next couple of games because we can’t go three matches without a booking and then get eight yellow cards on Saturday. It’s not right.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but the positives are sometimes you need a defeat for a reality check and we got that against Basildon.

“We’ve released some players and brought in a few, so I’m pretty sure the ones coming in will be good and give us more quality and discipline.”

The likes of Wale Odedoyin, Ajay Ashnike and Steve Solarin departed Ilford after the defeat at Basildon.

Fenn was unhappy with the attitude of the trio and also sent youngster Liam Whipps back to Witham Town.

With four players departing, the Foxes boss has been busy this week and made two additions ahead of their match at London Bari on Wednesday.

One of them, Nick Dembele, netted on his Ilford debut as the Cricklefield outfit claimed a 5-1 win at the Old Spotted Dog.

Eden Nelson hit a brace with Glen Warwick and Issac Nkosi on target as Foxes returned to winning ways.

“I’ve re-signed Chris Lockwood from Enfield. I had a long chat with him and he is returning,” said Fenn.

“We’ve also signed a really good striker called Nick Dembele who has proved himself at Carshalton Athletic in the past.

“We’ve got him on loan from Enfield Town, so we have two players coming in from two different Enfields with more discipline than the ones we have let go.”

Ilford actually took the lead last weekend through Ryan Ramsey, before he was given his marching orders following two yellow cards and they ended up suffering a 3-1 defeat.

Fenn will hope for better on Saturday, before Enfield visit in the second round of the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy next Wednesday (February 22).

George Sessions
Ilford Recorder