Phoenix FM’s JOHN CHUBB reporting from Melbourne Stadium
Chelmsford City manager Rod Stringer said he was ‘really pleased’ with the way his players responded to a rare National League South defeat in their previous fixture at Ebbsfleet United, with a 2-0 victory over Truro City last Saturday which keeps the Clarets in the promotion hunt.
‘I thought the boys were outstanding on Saturday’, said the ex-Aveley, Braintree and Bishops Stortford boss. ‘I thought the system we started with wasn’t really working, so after 15-20 minutes we changed it and managed to get a foothold straight away.
‘Everybody picked up their jobs and we thoroughly deserved the 2-0 win.’
Table toppers Maidenhead returned from Gosport with a 2-0 victory, and are 5 points clear of nearest challengers Ebbsfleet. Asked whether he felt Alan Devonshire’s side could be caught Stringer replied, ‘ I wouldn’t think Maidenhead feel the league’s won, because there’s still a long way to go. Maybe for the teams like ourselves (in 4th place on 48 points) Maidenhead have got enough on them, but the likes of Dartford or Ebbsfleet (both of whom are on 50+ points) maybe will feel that they can be caught.’
Asked whether he now has a squad of players capable of doing what he wants to achieve this season, or whether he still wants to strengthen his squad, the City manager said ‘I think we’ve got good depth. We have a squad of around 20 players….looking at the number of games coming up we need to have those type of numbers around us’.
‘If someone came along who would give us extra strength it’s certainly something I’d look at….but I’m not going to sign someone just for the sake of signing them. If I did bring someone in I’d possibly have to let 1 or 2 go, and at the moment I don’t see that we need to do that’.
This Saturday Chelmsford have a massive game as they travel to Tranmere Rovers in the 3rd round of the FA Trophy. Faced with a tie against a side currently lying 4th in the National League, and the prospect of playing in front of a larger crowd than usual against an ambitious club, Stringer felt that the ‘underdog’ tag can sometimes work in that situation. ‘We’re not going there to make the numbers up’, he said, describing the match as a ‘marquee game’. ‘We want to go there and make a good account of ourselves’.
Then on Wednesday City face Heybridge Swifts at Melbourne Stadium in an Essex Senior Cup quarter-final. Stringer indicated that he may make changes for this game but stressed that ‘whatever side I put out, I’ve got faith in all these players’.
Chelmsford players Chris Dickson and Christopher Bush were similarly upbeat going into the match at Tranmere. ‘It’s the year of the underdog at the moment isn’t it?’ Said Dickson, citing Lincoln City and his former club Sutton United as examples.
‘There’s no reason why we can’t take a big scalp like Tranmere, but we’ve got to be focused, we’ve got to be disciplined and we’ve definitely got to have passion for the game’, added the ex-Charlton Athletic striker.
Centre-half Bush added similar sentiments. ‘We want it to be a proper game….we want to show good character, good spirit and give a good account of ourselves’, said the City captain.