By Brian Bennett
Ashington manager Nick Gray is confident that his squad will break their seasons duck and register a first league win.
In the middle of a break – after the home game against Hallam was postponed last week as the Sheffield side were involved in a cup replay plus no fixture at the weekend or this midweek – Gray spoke frankly as he reflected on the campaign so far.
The Woodhorn Lane club have exited both the Emirates FA Cup and Isuzu FA Trophy whilst currently being on a run without a win in the East Division of the Pitching In Northern Premier League: “We’ve completed the first month of the season now and its always difficult because you’ve got to find ways of winning games – and we haven’t done that yet,” said Gray, “The results in the cup competitions have been disappointing but the league is your bread and butter and we’ve been beaten twice in five games. I’ve spoken to the group and there have been some conversations between us – and what resoundingly comes out is that we are together because all of players and staff care. The fans have been great and we just need to start to turn things around – which we are confident we will do.”
He continued: “Since our last game we’ve had the opportunity to give the players time off but we haven’t – instead we trained three times last week including Saturday and we’re training again this week. If we had been top of the league I may have seriously thought about giving them time off but it’s been an opportunity to put some sessions together which rarely happens during the course of a season and we’ve taken advantage of that.”
Ashington travel to face Consett on Friday night (September 12) at the Belle View Stadium and Gray said: “Over the last couple of games Consett have done really well. They did go down 3-1 against Matlock but they are a very good side and there’s no shame in losing against them. To be fair Consett are a good side. They have made a couple of shrewd signings which have made a difference to them. Come Friday, we’ll have our full squad available with the exception of the two goalkeepers Matty Alexander and Josef Herdman who are both injured. Tyler Jones has come in from Newcastle United and has been a very able replacement in goal whilst outfield wise, it’s now down to the players to perform – which they know themselves. On paper we are strong – but paper doesn’t win you games of football. With holidays out of the way we are looking to move on and I’m confident our first win won’t be far away.”
He went on: “I think the young lads including the Powell twins, Harry and Rory have done really well and although defensively we’ve had a couple of lapses, generally we’ve looked pretty good. For me, it’s the middle third and final third where we need to improve – but we are confident on that score.”
He concluded: “Players always get opportunities and it’s up to them to take them and whilst I’m happy with the squad if there’s room for improvement we’ll look to do that. This mini two week break has given us breathing space and a chance to regroup. It has allowed us to ask questions and to speak about things. Hopefully the supporters will see a different Ashington and look forward to the rest of the season.”