DARREN Byfield revealed he was largely happy with what he has seen from his Redditch United side having completed a third of the Southern League Premier Division season.
The Reds sit ninth in the table having won half of their 16 league games and Byfield believes such a position is more than respectable considering the playing personnel situation when he took over from Liam McDonald.
Byfield, whose side drew for the first time in the league this season on Saturday when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Dorchester City, said: “Overall, I’ve got to say I think the players have done really well.
“I can’t praise them highly enough. That doesn’t mean to say we aren’t capable of doing better or that we don’t want to improve, because we are striving to do so all the time.
“However, I make no apologies for reminding people that there were two first team players left at the club when I took over and I’ve had to put together a completely new squad within a few months.
“This is an incredibly difficult and competitive league and I think we’ve been very competitive.
“The top three have opened up a good gap and I think Leamington will really take some stopping, but aside from those teams we are really in the mix and we’ll keep going and see where it takes us.”
Byfield, who is hopeful of seeing numerous injury concerns in his squad ease ahead of Saturday’s FA Trophy first qualifying round tie at home to Cambridge City, was happy to see his side keep a welcome clean sheet last time out.
“We’ve not kept enough clean sheets and that was a pleasing aspect of the Dorchester game,” said the boss.
“It was a good point for us and we perhaps shaded it as the game progressed, but to be fair neither side can truly say they did enough to win it. It was a solid point.
“We now have a big game on Saturday in what is the only cup competition we are left in. We played well in beating Cambridge 4-1 recently and also missed two penalties, but it’s never the same game and they showed when they pushed Leamington all the way in midweek that they are a decent side.
“We will be going all out to progress and hopefully take some momentum into our league game at Chippenham Town on Tuesday (subject to any FA Trophy replay).
The Reds, who are three points adrift of the final play-off place, are likely to be without defender Nat Kelly and midfielder Max Loveridge with hip and heel injuries, whilst defender Duane Courtney is suspended.
25th Apr, 2024