Injury hit FC United travel to Eastwood Town

FC United travel to relegated Eastwood Town on Saturday afternoon with high hopes of maintaining our third place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division but they do so with several players on the injury list.

Goalkeeper James Spencer (shoulder injury) and midfielder Matthew Tierney (concussion) will both be unavailable whilst captain Kyle Jacobs (thigh strain), winger Carlos Roca (stiff back) and Jerome Wright (sore ankle) are all facing late fitness tests.

Manager Karl Marginson believes that out of the three, Wright has the best chance of being fit in time for Saturday. If he is selected, the winger will surpass Simon Carden’s record of most appearances for the club – 243.

Upon hearing the news, Margy’s response was: “I’ll have to drop him then,??? before paying tribute to the man who he signed from Maine Road in December 2006: “It’s a fantastic achievement for him. He’s a great player, we’ve seen that over the years. He had his sabbatical at Chester but he, like many other players, didn’t burn his bridges and I’m not a man to bear grudges, so we were happy to welcome him back.???

There were also personal achievements this week for Kyle Jacobs and Adam Jones who were both selected in the Evo-Stik Premier Division team of the year, which is voted for by the managers of each club.

Despite the accolades and being third in the table with six games to go, Margy was not in the mood to get too self-congratulatory. He said: “I was really disappointed by the result and the performance against Witton last weekend. Too many of the players didn’t perform and if they don’t perform they have to realise I will bring in someone who will, we have the squad to do that.???

And Margy added: “Our record against the top teams is poor to be honest and if we are going to achieve what we want to achieve this season, the lads are going to have to dig that bit deeper and play like they can against the top teams in the league, not just beating teams at the bottom end.???

United have comfortably put away the lower placed clubs in recent weeks and Eastwood fall into that category too, having already been relegated. However, Margy knows that fact can be a help as well as a hindrance for FC United.

He said: “They will be playing for pride and they will have no pressure on them, they can just go out and express themselves. However, I prefer to concentrate on what we do. If we approach the match in the right manner, we will be fine.???

Eastwood Town versus FC United of Manchester is this Saturday at Coronation Park, kicking-off at the traditional time of three o’clock. It’s pay on the gate as usual. Get yourself to that football ground.