In-form Slough Town eye up rare feat against the Mackerel Men

Scott Davies, front, hopes to return to the side at Worthing on Saturday. Photo: Zak Rana

--

Slough Town will look to do something that’s only been done once this season on Saturday, and that’s beat promotion contenders Worthing on their own ground.

Away from the Sussex Transport Community Stadium, Worthing have lost eight times, but on their own patch they’ve been close to unbeatable.

That’s the challenge facing the Rebels this weekend as they look to maintain their recent unbeaten run of form.

Their run of three consecutive victories – over Chelmsford City, Maidstone United and Weston-Super-Mare – was ended by Saturday’s goalless ‘snore draw’ with Horsham at Arbour Park.

But the points keep accumulating for the Rebels under Scott Davies, with the side having won seven of their last 10 matches. Only leaders Dorking Wanderers have an improved record over that period, and what’s more, they’ve achieved those results against some of the best-backed sides in the division.

They shouldn’t have anything to fear when they travel to West Sussex to face the Mackerel Men this Saturday. But assistant manager Tony Fontenelle knows the visitors will have their work cut out to get a positive result.

“You say that, but Worthing have only lost once at home all season,” he said.

“They’re a fantastic side and I’ll go on record as saying, for me, they’re the best footballing side in the division.

“When they get into their groove it’s difficult to get near them, but they’ve had some indifferent form lately and hopefully they don’t rediscover that form on Saturday.

“We’ll try and make it difficult for them to break us down.”

Finishing the season strongly is now the aim for the Rebels, with the team still short of their targeted number of wins and points. Should they reach that goal in the coming weeks – and before the end of the campaign – they’ll reassess their ambitions for the campaign.

Fontenelle wants to avoid a repeat of last season, when the campaign petered out and players began to focus on where their next move might be after Slough Town. He believes they’ve learned lessons from that but doesn’t want to start talking about a possible push for the play-offs unless it becomes a realistic proposition.

“When you look at some of the teams in and around us, I’m sure they are not having those conversions (about relegation),” he added

“But it’s that fighting mindset that has got us away from the bottom four so why should we change that mindset.

“We’re trying to instil in the players that we’ve set ourselves a target and we still haven’t reached that yet. When we do, we can put our foot on the ball, have a review and look at what our next target is.

The season doesn’t finish until the end of April and if we reach that target with games in hand, then fantastic but it won’t mean we’ll rest on our laurels.

“Ideally, we’d finish in the top half of the table and if we can get that, having got to the second round of the FA Cup and have a semi-final to look forward to in the Berks & Bucks Cup against Wycombe. If we can do that we’d look back and reflect on what’s been a good season.

“We’ve learned from last season. It kind of felt like our season petered out a bit. We don’t want to have that experience again this season. We want everyone to be chomping at the bit.

“Some people have also started talking about the play-offs but that’s way off our radar.

“It’s not part of the conversations we’re having in the dressing room, but football is a funny game and if results continue for us in the way they have and teams above us drop points then you never know.

“Maybe we could revisit it and have a conversation about it but until we reach our first target, those conversations are put to bed.

“When you look at our last 10 games, the only team that have had a better run is Dorking and they’re sitting top of the table. I know football is about ifs buts and maybes, but if we didn’t have the injury crisis, we had earlier in the season you can’t think but wonder what might have been.

“We’d almost certainly have had a few more points on the table and then we might be having a serious conversation about the play-offs.”