Match Preview

Next up - Great Wakering Rovers away on Saturday, 7th January at Burroughs Park, SS3 0HH, Ryman Isthmian League Div 1 North. Kick off 3pm.

When I wrote the "Next Up" preview for our New Year's Eve match with Dereham I suggested that it was the first of three winnable matches the results of which would have a big influence on the rest of our season. There was more to that than I realised because manager and chairman had already talked along the same lines but with Ken's job the main focus.

Defeat to Dereham compounded the previous loss at Cheshunt and the agreed target of nine points from those games and the next two became unachievable. The victory over Romford was, in those terms, irrelevant beyond being a great sign off for Ken although it also set a mark for Anwar Uddin to match as his replacement.

None of this makes the game at Great Wakering any less winnable or less important. Ken's aim at the beginning of the season was to make the play-offs but that has drifted away and now it is important for Anwar to steer the club clear of the bottom three places and to a respectable league position.

We can only guess at the impact the change of manager has had on the players but Anwar will want to maintain team confidence so that what has become a potentially crucial match is approached in the right frame of mind. Help in that direction should come from Murat Karagul, the most senior player in the squad, who is expected to be available after his recent injury.

Meanwhile in the light of his rapid appointment it would be naïve to assume that Anwar had not been sounded out in advance. Presumably he has studied the club's position and players' abilities to some extent and has his views on how he will proceed. That said there is nothing like getting hands on experience which will start this Thursday at the first training session since his appointment.

What Great Wakering Rovers will make of all this is harder to tell? They have their own issues, sitting as they do one place off the bottom of the table. They gained a 1-1 draw at Tilbury on Monday which was their first point since early December's win at Witham which in turn was their first win in a month. They have not won at home since September 24th with just a single draw in nine games at Burroughs Park since then.

Our ten latest matches against Great Wakering Rovers:-

Our best and worst against Great Wakering:-