Northwich Victoria hope to recover walking wounded to face FC United

 Source: Northwich Guardian

 By Andrew Simpson »

ANDY Morrison has urged Northwich Victoria’s forwards to be braver in front of goal if they want to beat FC United of Manchester tomorrow, Saturday.

Vics’ assistant manager told the Guardian that the holders had not been ruthless enough in their Cheshire FA Senior Cup win over Cheadle in midweek.

“We need to sharpen up in the final third of the field,” he said.

“That was apparent on Tuesday as we totally dominated the game but we didn’t ask enough questions of their goalkeeper.

“We need to get our shots off quicker, deliver better crosses and show more desire to score a goal.”

Northwich play a league game in front of their own fans this weekend for the first time since shipping six goals against Kendal Town.

They have failed too to win any of their past three Premier Division encounters.

But Morrison is hopeful that the starting line-up on Saturday will be bolstered by the return of top scorer Ollie Ryan and midfielder Wayne Riley.

The duo will be given until the last minute to prove their fitness.

“We’ll see who’s ready in the morning,” said Morrison.

“The midfield and front line will only be decided in the hours before kick off. That’s what we have to deal with when we’ve had so many injuries.

“It’s obviously not the best for our preparation but we want to have our big players available to play in what is a big game for us.

“It’s a case of getting people off their sick bed,” he said.

“The team we picked in midweek would have been the same had we had a league game because they are the only players we had available.

“That’s how tight things have been.”

Ferenc Fodor returns to the backline following a trip to his native Hungary, while Stockport County wing man Danny Rowe arrived on a month-long loan yesterday, Thursday.

Steve Woods, who played the first half of Vics’ 3-0 win in midweek, could make his first start for a month too.

“Woodsy got 45 minutes under his belt and that’s really important,” added Morrison.

“He’s been left frustrated since he signed because it’s been so stop-start for him but I hope he’s over the [injury] problems he’s had.

“He feels stronger and that’s great for us because as the season goes on he’ll be a key player for us.”