Men
National League South Sat 3 December Westleigh Park
Havant & Waterlooville
  • Faal (77')
1
Worthing
  • Kealy (27', 58', 75')
  • Dabre (88', 90')
5
1-5

A good performance last time out despite the defeat against Chelmsford – what elements of that performance will you be looking to take into this weekend and where do you think the team can improve?

“Looking back at the stats from Saturday, I think we dominated the possession with about 70%, had more shots and more crosses. That being said, we had so many crosses that didn’t lead to anything on Saturday so that’s certainly an area for improvement. We’ll be working on our crosses tonight and we can definitely improve on that this weekend. Like you said, it was a good, pleasing performance but I think we need to just improve in both boxes this weekend and we’ll be in with a good chance.

Another tough opponent on Saturday in Havant and Waterlooville, what sort of challenge do they pose and how will you be approaching that one?

“It’s an exciting challenge for us against a top side. Their front three is probably up there as one of the best in the league and is definitely very strong at this level. But speaking about just those three is probably an injustice to the rest of the team as they have a great squad with quality all over the pitch. But, like I said it’s an exciting challenge for us with the early kick off and it being probably our most local fixture in this division. Hopefully that means we can get a lot of our fans down there to create a good atmosphere. I think if we perform like we did against Chelmsford then we’ll give it a good go against a top side with lots of quality.

The squad has been boosted in recent weeks with the likes of Joel Colbran, Lewis White and James Beresford returning from injury, how’s it looking ahead of Saturday, and have you benefitted from having them in for a full week of training?

“It’s been great to have a full week of training. I think this is the first week where we’ve had the whole squad training together which is a huge bonus for us. Danny Barker is back out training for us tonight and it’s good for him to get some minutes out on the pitch alongside all the other guys who have returned. We just need to make sure that we get their workload right but it’s been a real positive week with the whole squad available to train.

Callum Kealy has scored in the last four games, how pleased are you that he’s been on such a good run of form of late?

“Yeah it’s what you like to see from Cal, it’s great for his confidence. He’s probably one of the other guys that we need to keep an eye on his workload, but we’ve got lots of options now with Ibby, Javaun and Ollie Pearce back too. But yeah, Cal’s been brilliant and has earned his place in that squad and is playing with lots of confidence at the moment.

Josh Chambers’ loan spell has come to an end after some impressive displays, how likely is it that we might see him in a red shirt again?

“We’re hoping to get that deal done today. I’ve spoken to the Gillingham manager, Neil Harris and he’s really pleased with how it’s gone for Josh here and we’re looking to extend that deal by another month. Josh has been excellent alongside Mo Dabre in midfield for us. I think the two of them have really stepped up and have been brilliant in there. So yeah, hoping to get that deal done and hopefully Josh can continue performing well for us.