Smith Looks for Change but Only After Final Game …

Hednesford Town boss Rob Smith has spoken of his desire to bring in new faces ahead of the 2015/16 campaign but also stressed that, in fairness to other teams in the league with something to play for, tomorrow’s game versus Brackley will not be treated as a dead rubber.

The Pitmen’s late home defeat to Stalybridge Celtic last weekend extinguished the dying embers of Hednesford’s faint play-off hopes but with their opponents tomorrow still desperately battling to avoid relegation, the manager has said his team will be going out to get a result.

‘The game is certainly not a dead rubber for Brackley, Stalybridge or Colwyn Bay, so we have to give it our all.

‘Last week was hugely disappointing, we just couldn’t react with our own changes when Stalybridge brought on three substitutes but I want the players to end the season on a high.’

The usual view from a fans’ perspective is that the gap until July 1st when pre-season starts is a holiday for all concerned, but for the management it is far from that as they begin to recruit new players and look seriously at their current squad.

Smith is no different in that regard and believes that with numerous “ins and outs”, the next several weeks will be a very busy time.

‘To be honest I can see a lot of new faces coming in. The coming weeks will be the busiest time for me, no break I’m afraid. If we are to simply survive next season we need to build a squad to compete in what will be an awesome league next year.’

The Pitmen faithful can look forward to a set of mouth-watering fixtures next season which will include home and away derbies versus Tamworth, Telford, Solihull Moors and Nuneaton, not to mention the resumption of their rivalry with FC United of Manchester but, before then, a win to secure an excellent eighth-placed finish would represent a satisfactory end to, at times, a tumultuous campaign.

Yet again injuries leave the Hednesford squad looking threadbare with no Ben Bailey, James Hurst, Paul McCone and Paul Sullivan definitely missing. Marvin Robinson is still struggling to make the first eleven although Darren Campion is available after serving suspension.