Glenn Pennyfather’s Chelmsford City have to recover quickly from their FA Trophy exit against Oxford United if they are to emerge victorious in a tough encounter against fellow promotion candidates Eastleigh at Melbourne.
The Clarets’ Head Coach is now focussing fully on the team’s Blue Square South fortunes, proclaiming: “The season starts here!”
City were defeated 3-1, but not disgraced, against potentially Football League-bound United last Saturday in a high-profile last sixteen clash which boosted the club’s presence in the local community, but the Clarets now return to domestic action aiming to put right the two consecutive home losses against Basingstoke Town and Staines Town immediately prior to that tie and protect their current placing in the top five.
“We’ve made no secret that our priority is the league and being able to do as well as we possibly can,” Pennyfather explained prior to the seventh-placed Hampshire side’s visit. “If you look at how we started the season we were conceding goals, were in and out of form and we had to develop some consistency. After a rebuilding process we’ve got ourselves into a decent position to get into the play-offs and we know we can still improve.”
He will have a number of potential injury concerns to deal with, however, if he is to come through the game with three points. Wide-man Anthony Cook suffered concussion against Oxford and will be assessed before the game. Centre half Mark Haines is still struggling with his ankle troubles and will be joined in a pre-match fitness test by striker Lewis Smith who has a calf strain. Defenders Ben Martin and Marlon Patterson will also need to be examined before they can be cleared to take part.
Pennyfather believes the fixture list will be kinder once a few key games have been negotiated, though he is also keen to take nothing for granted or make rash predictions. “Once this game and the one against Newport County are out of the way we’ve played most of the teams in the top ten so they’ll be facing each other in six pointers which will take care of themselves,” he observed. “We just need to make sure we don’t drop points against teams from lower down like we did against Maidenhead and Weston.”
Eastleigh are rated as one of the main threats to City’s place in the top five and just four defeats in twelve away games so far suggest Chelmsford will need to be at their best to succeed. A 4-0 win against a revitalised Weymouth in midweek will have boosted the visitors’ confidence despite a 1-0 defeat at home to rivals Havant & Waterlooville last Saturday. In the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign Eastleigh were 3-1 victors.
Contrary to reports elsewhere, however, Pennyfather explained there are no definite signings in the immediate offing, though he remains on a constant lookout for talent in a bid to strengthen his existing squad. He added: “I’ve got my eye on a number of players but they’ve got to be at the right price. This is an important part of the season and fresh faces can give the team a lift as well as keeping the players on their toes.”
