Owusu feels the benefits

“I can definitely see that it’s working out there and I feel a better player for it.” sam owusu

SAM Owusu says he is seeing the benefits on the pitch of working with Witham Town manager Mark Ashford.
Owusu is one of only a few members of the current Witham squad who was with the club before the start of the current Bostik League division north season.

It has proved a testing opening part of the campaign as Witham found themselves lodged in the relegation zone, but a fruitful December, when they secured 13 out of a possible 15 points, has left them looking upwards in January.

And Owusu feels that their players are reaping the rewards of having an accomplished coach like Ashford at the Witham helm.
He said: “I’ve been with the club for a while now, but I definitely feel that I’ve improved working under Mark.

“He has given me some one-to-one coaching with things he felt I needed to improve on and I’ve taken it on board.

“I can definitely see that it’s working out there and I feel a better player for it.

“I’m moving the ball a lot quicker now and keeping it better than I was, so, already, he’s making a difference to my game.”
Owusu was part of the Witham side that closed out their unbeaten December with a 1-0 win at second-placed Maldon & Tiptree last weekend and they now head into 2019 in buoyant mood.

January is set to start with a home game against Brentwood Town on Saturday and Owusu said they must keep the same mindset that earned success before the New Year.

The Town midfielder added: “I think we just have to head into January with the same game plan that we have had through the whole of December.

“We understood that we had to pick up points because we were down at the bottom, but we now need the same mentality even though we are now climbing up.

“We have to keep the same mentality through the whole of January.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing top of the table, mid-table or bottom, we have to have the same resilience and fight that we’ve shown in the last few games.“This league is dangerous because anyone can beat anyone so it’s just about having that same mentality throughout and seeing how far we can go.

“I feel that we’re looking a real team now.

“You could see that at Maldon with the way that all 11 on the pitch were fighting for each other.

“When someone goes in for a tackle, there are others backing them up to make sure that we win the ball.

“Things like that show there is a whole team feel come back to Witham Town.

“There are 11 players out there as a team, it’s not a group of individuals.

“You need to be singing off the same hymn sheet and we now have a resilience because that’s what we are doing.

“When we find ourselves down, I believe in this team and that we can get a result because we’re working for each other and fighting for each other.”

By Simon Spurgeon

Updated 07:10 - 30 Aug 2019 by swifty