Rocked by yet more disruption beyond our control, Enfield Town go into tomorrow’s FA Cup tie at home to Peterborough Sports determined to get our season back on track.
No sooner had the management team brought in Harry Ottaway to play alongside Hisham Kasimu than they had the rug pulled from under their feet by Kasimu accepting an offer from his former club Farnborough.
It was the latest in a series of comings and goings in what is becoming somewhat of a revolving door, preventing us from establishing a settled team.
With Reece Beckles-Richards unavailable tomorrow it leaves us with precious few options up front but that could give the boys extra motivation to advance as we enter the competition at the 2nd qualifying round stage.
Drawn against Step 2 opposition (the Turbines play in National League North) wasn’t ideal and with two of our three recent signings also unavailable — one suspended, the other cup-tied — the task has hardly been made any easier.
“Suffice to say we’ve done our analysis on the opposition as always do,” said Gavin. “Some might say it’s a pig of a draw but in some respects, a Step 3 opponent might have quite fancied playing us at this moment in time.”
“Having said that, there is no room for manoevre compared with maybe a lesser draw. Peterborough Sports are very strong at set pieces and will probably be no different to some of the sides we’ve met this season. I don’t consider this a respite from the league. It’s a competition I love, the best cup competition in the world.”
All of us will remember how close we got last season to the first round proper, only for Cray Valley PM to gain that plum draw against Charlton at our expense.
“It can be a game-change for clubs at our level,” said Gavin. “It runs a lot deeper than the players maybe getting a chance to draw a league club later on. It’s about exposure if we can get that far. Not just the badge. The volunteers, fans, everyone who make the club tick and who are the foundation and soul of this club.”
Gavin acknowledged that losing Kasimu was the latest unexpected blow but refuses to use it as an excuse against a side that knocked us out on penalties four years ago.
“I don’t expect any sympathy from anyone because the support I’ve received during this tough run has been unbelievable,” he said.
“Football throws up adversity and I’ve had it from a week before the season started with the important players we lost. This is another chapter. Yes we have had to change plans yet again right at the last minute given the personnel at our disposal and of course it’s far from ideal. But it’s not insurmountable. What’s happened this week may have dented our chances on paper but I’m not thinking like that. We re-programme, we reset and we go again.”
Link to commentary for Saturday’s game: https://mjl99.mixlr.com/events/3689049. Broadcast will start at 2.50pm, comments will be enabled on the site and I’ll be joined by new pundit Paul Manel (host on Royal Free Hospital Radio and long-term ETFC fan).
AW