FC United's forward planning ahead of Burscough clash

FC United’s assistant manager Roy Soule confirmed that the club are looking to bring in a new forward ahead of Saturday’s match with Burscough but remained tight-lipped about the identity of the player.

Soule said: “Until we have the forms cleared and confirmed by the league, we can’t say anything. But he is a forward. And we may have one or two other players on the way.???

A new goal-scoring addition to the squad could be good for the Reds as the only recognised strikers at the club are currently Michael Norton and Ben Deegan. The latter misses Saturday’s match, which will be played at Skelmersdale United’s West Lancashire College Stadium, due to serving a one game ban for picking up two yellow cards in our defeat to Chorley two weeks ago.

Following a recent bout of injuries, things are looking more positive for the squad; Steve Torpey made a second half appearance in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Woodley Sports and Kyle Jacobs is back in full training with Soule rating the fullback’s chances of being involved tomorrow as ‘very good’. Meanwhile, Matthew Wolfenden has resumed light training following a hamstring strain and Soule believes he is around seven to ten days away from being available again.

Tuesday’s victory was FC United’s first in six matches, bringing to an end our longest run without a win since April 2010. Soule is adamant though that when the squad we have is fully fit we should be getting much better results. He said: “I don’t fear anyone in this league, other than ourselves. We can beat anyone.

“We have a skilful team but sometimes we have the tendency to overplay things a little bit. We need to be more clinical and a little bit meaner, get the job done. Complacency sometimes sets in because of the amount of possession we have in matches and that’s when we face the backlash.

“That’s what we saw last Saturday. Every credit to Woodley for getting a draw but by the time they scored we should have already put the game to bed. We could have easily have won 4-1 last Saturday and I think the lads had something to prove on Tuesday.???

And Soule added: “When we don’t take our chances and sometimes find ourselves going a goal down that can really hit our confidence but that’s where we’ve got to show some mental strength. We’ve got the skills and abilities but we need the mental strength to go with it.???

Burscough are currently rooted to the bottom of the Evo-Stik Premier Division table, having won one, drawn one and lost eight so far this season. However, Soule said the players are regularly warned not to read anything into the league standings. He said: “There a no easy games in this division, anyone can beat anyone. We were second from bottom in January and people might have thought we would roll over but we didn’t.

“If anything, when we play less fancied teams our concentration and work ethic has to go up a few levels because they will be putting the effort in so we need to match it with our skills and abilities. You have to show every team respect and you do that by beating them.???

Burscough versus FC United is this Saturday at the West Lancashire College Stadium in Skelmersdale. It’s pay on the gate and kick-off is at the traditional time of three o’clock. Get yourself to that football ground.