Neal Ardley is considering changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s Vanarama National League visit of Barnet.
The boss oversaw a convincing win over Altrincham in midweek but, with the games coming thick and fast and high physical demands placed on the team, those who have missed out on a starting berth so far this season may be given a chance to impress.
“There might be three or four changes but I haven’t made a final decision. Whatever I do will be for the greater good of the team,” said Ardley when he met the media this afternoon.
“I’ve got my concerns about one or two – not that they wouldn’t be able to turn up and play, but that the game might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back due to cumulative fatigue.
“We’ve got a really tough away game at Sutton next Tuesday so I’m mindful of how I’m going to put the best teams out to try and win both games. We’ve got to have trust that players can come in and show what they can do.”
Ardley is likely to be without Adam Chicksen who’s ill, while Damien McCrory and Ben Turner are both ‘champing at the bit’ to challenge for their place in the squad.
And whoever’s selected to face the Bees will face a different challenge to the one posed by Darren Currie’s men in our 2019-20 play-off semi-final victory, according to Ardley.
“They’ve got a different manager and probably a different system and shape,” said the boss.
“They responded to a tonking in game one by coming from behind and digging out a great away win in game two.
“It’s really hard to know what to expect – I can take pieces from those two games and say ‘this is how they’re going to play’, but eight times out of ten last season the opposition came with a different game plan because they were playing away at Meadow Lane.”
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