Hughes plans a points haul
6:00am Friday 29th January 2010 in Non-League By Gordon Sharrock
ATHERTON LR manager Dave Hughes is hoping to have enough points on the board before he tackles a selection dilemma at Easter.
Rovers have had 12 fixtures postponed already this season — the latest due to a waterlogged pitch at Bacup Borough on Wednesday night — and start to play catch-up with a tough trip to Ramsbottom United in the Vodkat NW Counties Premier Division tomorrow.
They face a demanding sequence of two matches a week for the foreseeable future but the biggest test will come when the Goldline Trophy holders meet Charnock Richard in this year’s final at the Reebok Stadium on Tuesday, April 6 — a day after they are scheduled to play what could be a crucial league game against Flixton.
“I just hope that when we get to that stage we’ve got 40 points and the Flixton game doesn’t matter,” Hughes said. “But, even if we’re still scrambling for points in the leagues, the cup final will be the priority.”
Rovers were in a similar situation last month when they had to play Daisy Hill in a Vodkat League Cup replay 24 hours after beating Prestwich Heys in the Goldline semi-final. The Crilly Park side rested their first team players for the Daisy Hill replay, which they won, but were later disqualified from the competition for fielding four ineligible players.
Hughes was unrepentant, insisting he would do the same again, if necessary, but now has a much stronger squad to cope with a hectic fixture list.
The lay-off has given us a chance to get all our long-term injuries sorted,” he said. “The only trouble is we haven’t played since December 16 and, because of the weather, we’ve only been able to train four times so all the players are very rusty.
“It’s like going into a new season without any pre-season training.”
Atherton Collieries will look to build on last week’s impressive victory over Division One high-fliers Leek CSOB when they host Barnwoldswick at Alder House tomorrow.
Daisy Hill, who beat fellow strugglers Oldham Borough on their return to action after the big freeze, are at home to Eccleshall.
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