CARL ADAMS hopes Stratford Town’s enforced break will recharge their batteries for their top ten challenge.
‘The Beast from the East’ put paid to successive home games against Hitchin Town and Tiverton Town and meant the players had a week away from training.
However, manager Adams expects his players to quickly regain the momentum on Saturday when they head to Cambridgeshire side St Neots Town.
“It was a tough last week because we were unable to train, the snow was that bad,” said Adams.
“But in some ways it’s good to have a week off. We’ve had a lot of football and it’s nice to have the chance to recharge the batteries.”
Town had chalked up three wins out of four in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier to move within two points of the top ten and will head to 11th-placed St Neots boosted by the return of Dan Summerfield after injury and the imminent inclusion of summer signing George Washbourne.
Top scorer Ben Stephens is also in upbeat mood after being invited back for a further training stint with Ipswich Town.
The 18-goal front-runner has already impressed in two matches for the Tractor Boys U23s and is now set to join the first team squad for training.
“Ben’s trained with the U23s but when he’s been at Ipswich the first team have had games away,” said Adams. “They want to see him train with the first team.
“They’re good signs for Ben and he’s loved the experience. We will just have to see what happens next.”
Summerfield has been sidelined for the last three games but is available this weekend, although striker Mike Taylor has to sit out the clash at Rowley Park because the postponements have meant he has yet to complete his two-game ban.
Meanwhile, Adams admits he ie excited about the prospect of finally seeing midfielder Washbourne pull on a Town shirt for his competitive debut after seven months.
The former Sutton Coldfield Town, Hednesford Town and Forest Green player suffered a knee injury in pre-season but is now getting some match practice with Midland League Division Two side Montpellier.
He is set to play for Montpellier on Saturday and will then come into contention for Town’s match with Kettering Town next Saturday at the MoodChimp Stadium.
“George is going to get another 90 minutes with Montpellier under his belt this weekend but then he should be available for us,” said Adams. “I’m really excited to see how he links up with Ben (Stephens) and Will Grocott.”
The postponed home matches against Tiverton and Hitchin have been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 20 and Tuesday, March 27 respectively.
