Enfield Town go into the first of three perilously tough fixtures on paper when we travel to in-form Maidenhead United tomorrow with every point precious as we seek to pull away from the danger zone.
With 20 games to go, there is still plenty of time to climb the table but with four sides facing the drop and Torquay and Dorking soon to come – followed by the mother of all six-pointers against Eastbourne — the importance of not being cast adrift cannot be over-stated.
Saturday’s opponents may be 10th in the division but are on a roll, having only lost one in seven with the fourth best goal difference. Yet this league has shown that anyone can beat anyone on a given day and there is no reason we can’t come away with a decent outcome.
“Maidenhead, Torquay and Dorking are three full-time teams who are amongst the biggest in the league and the odds are stacked against us,” said Gavin Macpherson. “As far as pressure is concerned, part of my job is to absorb it and not let it affect the players. I go into every game thinking we can win it and I’d suggest the pressure is more on Maidenhead on Saturday.”
One advantage we perhaps have over the other clubs near the bottom is that we have been there before and know what it takes to survive. Having said that, everyone’s nerves will take a battering if we find ourselves in a similar position come April.
“This league has pushed on and in real terms our task this season is much harder,” Gav admitted. “Teams are better resourced and train full-time which is huge. I understand the magnitude given who we are and where we are but we have players and a management team who have experienced this before.”
Having added to our forward options by bringing in 21-year-old Ruben Bartlett-Antwi from Slough, Gavin explained what attracted him to a player who was surplus to requirements at another Step 2 club but, let’s remember, scored against us in that gut-wrenching FA Cup defeat.
“He’s big, strong, gets his body in the way and has got the raw ability of a centre-forward which I like and which we found out when we played Slough,” said Gavin.
Although Ruben was a prolific scorer in the lower leagues, not least at Leatherhead where he scored 21 goals in 2024-25, Gavin cautioned Town fans not to necessarily expect instant results.
“He’s not the finished article and has a lot to learn but that’s good because he’s coachable. We all acknowledge that we’ll have to improve his game but the raw ingredients are there, he fits the group in his attitude and of course he’s an Enfield lad. He may not be a big name but I believe he’ll be extremely effective going forward.”
Ruben’s signing is all the more timely given that Eli Ackeson has picked up a knock whilst Gavin disclosed that Mickey Parcell, whose injury has taken longer than anticipated to heal, is being loaned out to Step 4 Takeley on a dual registration to gain some crucial match practise.
“Mickey is someone we desperately need on and off the field but the problem is how to get him up to speed,” explained Gav. “Some might say training should do that but not at this level. You need games. At the moment he would probably last only 45 minutes which is where neither of us want to be. Hopefully we should have him back after a couple of games which can’t come soon enough.”
AW