Reds ready to shake off rust in Steel City
Whisper it quietly but it looks like FC United of Manchester is finally going to get to play some competitive football again after a weather induced five week break and manager Karl Marginson says the players, like the fans, are chomping at the bit.
The Reds haven’t played a game since 12 December due to five postponements but with the UK’s ’cold snap’ finally over, Margy will be taking his team over the Pennines to South Yorkshire in search of three priceless points to get 2010 underway whilst kick-starting the second half of the season.
United have a number of fresh recruits ready to take on Stocksbridge Park Steels, a team which the Reds beat 4-3 earlier in the season at Gigg Lane. New faces Adriano Rigoglioso and Kyle Jacobs have been joined by tough-tackling midfielder James Holden, who has signed from Conference North side Vauxhall Motors. Holden though will already be familiar to many supporters as he made seven appearances for the Reds in the 2007/08 season. All three players are expected to feature in Saturday’s squad.
United’s only absentees should be Danny Warrender who must still serve a one match ban for picking up five yellow cards and Adam Tong, who has picked up a knock in training. It means a huge selection headache for Margy but it’s not one he is worried about.
The manager is looking forward to getting back to the UniBond Premier Division campaign and he said: "Everybody’s chomping at the bit and I think it’ll be like playing the first game of the season again. For the past five weeks all we’ve been doing is running and indoor 5-a-sides which gets monotonous.
"The players may be a bit rusty because this time off has been like having another pre-season but they’ll be full of aggression and endeavour. We know Stocksbridge will provide us with a tough test as they did at Gigg Lane but our players are more than capable and if we can cut out the sloppy mistakes we’ll start beating teams again. We’ve always been strong in the second half of the season and a win could be the catalyst for our season."??
Stocksbridge Park Steels versus FC United of Manchester is three o’clock on Saturday at the Look Local Stadium and it’s pay on the gate. Get yourself to that football ground.
The Reds haven’t played a game since 12 December due to five postponements but with the UK’s ’cold snap’ finally over, Margy will be taking his team over the Pennines to South Yorkshire in search of three priceless points to get 2010 underway whilst kick-starting the second half of the season.
United have a number of fresh recruits ready to take on Stocksbridge Park Steels, a team which the Reds beat 4-3 earlier in the season at Gigg Lane. New faces Adriano Rigoglioso and Kyle Jacobs have been joined by tough-tackling midfielder James Holden, who has signed from Conference North side Vauxhall Motors. Holden though will already be familiar to many supporters as he made seven appearances for the Reds in the 2007/08 season. All three players are expected to feature in Saturday’s squad.
United’s only absentees should be Danny Warrender who must still serve a one match ban for picking up five yellow cards and Adam Tong, who has picked up a knock in training. It means a huge selection headache for Margy but it’s not one he is worried about.
The manager is looking forward to getting back to the UniBond Premier Division campaign and he said: "Everybody’s chomping at the bit and I think it’ll be like playing the first game of the season again. For the past five weeks all we’ve been doing is running and indoor 5-a-sides which gets monotonous.
"The players may be a bit rusty because this time off has been like having another pre-season but they’ll be full of aggression and endeavour. We know Stocksbridge will provide us with a tough test as they did at Gigg Lane but our players are more than capable and if we can cut out the sloppy mistakes we’ll start beating teams again. We’ve always been strong in the second half of the season and a win could be the catalyst for our season."??
Stocksbridge Park Steels versus FC United of Manchester is three o’clock on Saturday at the Look Local Stadium and it’s pay on the gate. Get yourself to that football ground.
First Posted ~ 16:22 Fri 22 Jan 2010
News ID ~ 2671
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021