GRAY SETS HIS PLAYERS A CHALLENGE

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Nick Gray wants his players to improve their away form in the second half of the season.

Following back to back league games against Bishop Auckland and Newton Aycliffe which have been postponed due to frozen surfaces, the Colliers now head into a programme of fixtures which will see them on their travels for five out of their next seven matches – and Gray is looking for an improvement in results.

The pitch at Woodhorn Lane was so solid that Saturday’s scheduled clash against Newton Aycliffe was actually called off on Friday tea time and Gray was keeping his fingers crossed that with milder weather forecast, Wednesday night’s trip to face Grimsby Borough would get the green light.

However, the boss was philosophical about the forthcoming journeys when he said: “It’s not ideal and it’s just the way things have fallen with the weather – but at the same time we need to be better with our away form and look to get some positive results. We know we have to do much better and need points on the board and within the dressing room we’ll be setting ourselves a target. The earlier we reach that target the better. It’s a tough challenge but after these seven games if we’ve bagged a good points haul then it’ll have been worthwhile – if not then it will put us under pressure for the home games.”

He continued: “The weather has stopped our momentum but we’re in the same boat as a lot of other clubs. When I was with Morpeth Town, we experienced a long winter in 2016 – the same season we won the FA Vase – where we didn’t play a game for nine or ten weeks! On Thursday night I spoke at training that we’ve got to keep switched on and be focussed and think that the next game is going to go ahead. We are in a good place at the minute and need to play as soon as we can – but we’ve got to make sure that when that next game comes, we’re 100 per cent prepared.”

Meanwhile Gray revealed that he had organised a behind closed doors friendly at the weekend: “You have to try and keep ticking over,” he added, “Some players have had more minutes than others recently but as manager, it also gives you an opportunity to look at shape and formations. It was disappointing but not a surprise that the Newton Aycliffe clash was postponed. They are always a tough side to play against so we knew it would have been a difficult game but you are just waiting for the next match because the longer it goes on (without a match), the tougher it is for the lads to get back into a routine.”