Heds up for Reds

Stuart Brennan

27/11/2008

KARL Marginson has challenged his FC United players to prove their worth against league leaders Hednesford Town.

The Rebels have gone three games without a win in the UniBond premier and in midweek a poor defensive display saw them shunted out of the FA Trophy at home by Boston United.

But Marginson thinks a Gigg Lane clash with the table-topping Stafforshire outfit may be the perfect remedy to his side’s ills: “You have to see it as the perfect game to put things right. They are top and in midweek smashed Hyde United 5-0 in the Trophy.

“We have to start keeping clean sheets, or at least make sure that if someone does score against us, it is a goal like the one Guiseley scored in the last minute, an unstoppable one.”

Marginson said that one of his defenders, believed to be skipper Dave Chadwick, had “held up his hands” for two errors which handed Boston goals on Wednesday night.

Hednesford, like many teams at premier level, offer a big, strong physical threat, but Marginson is confident his side can cope: “Ilkeston were similar and we beat them 3-1,” he said. “We have to keep the ball when going forward, because on song we create chances for fun. Defensively we need to keep our concentration – we are not being done by fantastic skill or brilliant movement.

“For the first 35 minutes against Boston we were magnificent going forward, and their keeper pulled off two world-class saves, and we had three cleared off the line.

“But then we lost it and tried too hard to force things instead of keeping the ball and moving it.”

The old central defence pairing of Chadwick and Rob Nugent is set to play together for the first time this season, with youngster Adam Turner suffering a recurrence of a deadleg problem which has troubled him of late.

Nugent, the club’s longest-serving player, is fit again after months of knee problems.”