FC focused on promotion bid

March 26, 2009

FC UNITED manager Karl Marginson says that his players will concentrate on the job at hand as they prepare for a grudge game at Merseysiders Marine.

The reds are still in the UniBond Premier League promotion hunt as they set off down the East Lancs Road on Saturday, March 28, kick-off 3pm, for a showdown that is sure to have added spice following the behaviour of several Marine players in the reverse fixture, which resulted in one being sacked by the Crosby club for making gestures mocking the Munich air crash.

Despite his denial of the incident and laughable attempts to shift the blame on to fans of other clubs, it was later revealed that the player was a member of a Facebook internet site called ‘Munich 58 was the best thing ever’, leading to the commendable action of Marine FC in terminating his contract.

Matters were not helped when a journalist from a newspaper in the Sefton area hopped in a time machine to go back to 1975 with a remit for sensationalism and warned the citizens of leafy Crosby that their world was set to end at the hands of a marauding red army from Manchester.

Despite the distractions, Marginson says that his players will have their minds firmly fixed on what happens on the pitch at the weekend.

He said: "There will always be a bit of spice when clubs from Manchester and Merseyside meet but our players are determined to make the play-off places so the only thing that matters is getting the result.

"Marine will raise their game simply because they are playing United and that’s not a bad thing.

"It will be a competitive match and everyone is looking forward to it.

"We are still in the play-off hunt so Saturday’s match is a must-win game for us. Marine are a good club and they will make us very welcome so we are not interested in what has gone on before."

As the Advertiser went to press last night, Wednesday, March 25, the reds had added two key signings to the squad ahead of today’s (Thursday’s) UniBond signing deadline.

Following a long drawn out chase, former Manchester United youngster Phil Marsh was signed from Leigh and FC old boy Nicky Platt had returned to the club after being released by Stalybridge Celtic.