New signings could boost Bards squad
CARETAKER manager Paul Davis has revealed that Stratford Town could be looking at making one or two new signings ahead of a hectic programme of festive fixtures.
The Bards face a trip to sixth-placed Stamford on Saturday ahead of matches with fellow title contenders AFC Telford United and Kettering Town.
He said: “We have a good squad of 19 players including two goalkeepers but feel as though we need to bring one or two in to make us better. If we can sign the right players then the chairman is happy to do that. Some have become available recently and we will be having a look at them to see if they will make us better.
“We need to use the full squad over Christmas because we have six games between now and 4th January so we need everyone to pull in the same direction. We play three of the top six as well as rivals Bromsgrove and Alvechurch before a long trip to Leiston.
“It is tough but my mindset is that on the coach home from Leiston on 4th January we will probably know where we are at. We will have played Telford and Kettering twice who are in the top three and just over half of our games.”
One of Stratford’s targets could be young West Bromwich Albion defender Alex Williams who played against the Bards in Tuesday’s Birmingham Senior Cup match which the Baggies won 4-2 and who spent a month at the Arden Garages Stadium earlier in the season.
Davis sent out an ‘experimental’ side for the match and admits he was disappointed that some players failed to seize their opportunity.
He said: “We wanted to get through to the next round and I felt the team we picked should have been strong enough and certainly good enough not to concede three goals in the first half. I wasn’t happy at half-time and hopefully everyone could see that because I brought on three subs to try and liven it up a little bit.
“We have been very good defensively as a team and we lacked that, particularly in the first half. They [West Brom] had too many opportunities for me. The game was like one from previous years, like a game of basketball where one team scores and then the other. Most of the times you end up on the wrong side of those.
“We have been very good this season at keeping clean sheets or conceding just one to give ourselves a chance. We didn’t do that and to have to score four goals in a game to try and get to penalties takes some doing. We need to try and get back to where we have been going into Saturday’s game at Stamford.
“If you want to get in this team - which is a winning team - then players cannot knock on my door and say ‘give me a chance’. They have to train well and, when given the opportunity in a game, have to take it. Will Bapaga has been the best at training over a number of sessions which is why he was given his opportunity tonight. I didn’t think he was quite at it in the first half which is why he came off but I also have the attitude that one bad game doesn’t mean that you are out.
“I also wanted to try Jack [Storer] up front. It was something different and we’ve tried Lewis Wilson up there in the past, but that didn’t work.”
