Chris Tomkinson reflects on Saturday’s performance, upcoming games, and the home advantage

Wednesday nights training session for Central was an important one, having had their winning streak unfortunately come to an end on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat away to Astley and Tyldesley. Following a couple of days of reflection Chris’ thoughts on the game were as follows:

“It was extremely disappointing considering how well we’ve played the last 3 or 4 games previous, the lads looked leggy and tired, no excuse they took their chances, wasn’t much in the game. But fair play to them still disappointed and the lads will be even more disappointed in themselves after the game and that was reflected at training tonight. We know we need to not slip up now really to try and get that top 5 which we know will be tough, but we’ve said it all along that we just need to keep on winning and try and keep as much good form going as we can, which I know we can do but Saturday will be an extremely difficult game.”

During the session, the manager wanted to work on getting that high level of intensity back that had been such a prominent figure in Central’s good performances as of late, as well as making sure that the players were able to keep hold of the ball in tight areas. Central’s next two games in particular seem like cup finals, as they take on promotion rivals AFC Monton, and league leaders Bolton United, when asked how important it is to come away from these two games with as many points as possible, this is what Chris had to say:

“Its very important! We’ve always had hopes to try and get into that top 5 which we knew would be tough with all the other good teams that are around us, but if we can pick up points in those games then obviously it’ll be good for the table but also a huge confidence boost for the lads, knowing that they can compete with the better teams in this league. We need to definitely bounce back from Saturday, but I can’t fault the lads for this season they’ve been brilliant all the way through. They’ve had their ups and downs; the last 6 weeks have been more how we want to play and how we know we can play so we just need to get back to that on Saturday.”

Despite the loss on Saturday, Central are still undefeated in their last three home games, therefore having 5 of their last 6 games of the season at Wright Robinson College is something that they will definitely look to take advantage of in their attempt to push for promotion up to Division One of the Manchester Football League Limited. Chris commented on the opportunity that his side has been given and how significant of a factor that it may be:

“Playing at home you have to make the most of the home advantage, playing on a pitch that we know will be good, it won’t be bobbly or dry so both teams can hopefully get the ball down which will result in a good game, but taking advantage of being at home is massive and should stand us in good stead for the rest of the season in order to try and finish the season on as much as a positive as we can.”

Find out via live updates on our social media pages how the White Black and Reds do in their game on Saturday at home to AFC Monton, in addition to future games as this enthralling season starts to draw to a close. We Are Central!