UNITED BOSS WARNS OF HARTLEY REVENGE
HAYES & Yeading United manager Paul Hughes says Hartley Wintney will be out for revenge on Saturday when they visit the SKYEx Community Stadium, after a 6-1 thrashing in the reverse fixture in October.
The Row and Hayes are both in play-off contention in the Southern League East Division and it could be a crucial league double, should Hughes’s team win on Saturday.
But the manager insists he doesn’t expect Hayes to put six past their rivals again and will not be taking the Hampshire side lightly.
“Hartley Wintney have improved since we beat then 6-1 at their place,” he said. “We had a very good day and they had a very bad day, so that won’t happen again.
“They have brought in some good players and scored a lot of goals so it will be a tough game for us.
“Of course they will [be out for revenge] after the game at their place, and that will give them a bit of extra motivation to beat us, but we don’t want to lose. It should be a good game.
“They are all good teams in that top eight so everyone is going to be fighting to finish in those play-off spots, and it won’t be easy.
“We have got ourselves in a good position because we have worked hard and play well and we have deserved it. If we end up in the playoff positions come the end of the season then it’s because we deserve to be there and if we don’t, then we deserve to be outside of it.
“I think we are very realistic at the club when it comes to the table. Obviously we have to just keep winning.”
Before the snow gave the Southern League an enforced break at the weekend Hayes lost two on the bounce, suffering a narrow cup defeat on penalties to Hitchin Town and then a 2-1 home league defeat to mid-table Ashford Town.
While not displeased by his team’s performance in the cup, Hughes hopes Hayes have learned lessons from their league loss.
“The draw against Hitchin was a great result,” he said. “They are in the league above us and a good team and a lot of people felt we should have won, so we came away from that fixture with a lot of confidence and a lot of plaudits.
“The Ashford game was just a poor start; we were 2-0 down within seven minutes due to poor defending. We usually start very quickly and in that game we didn’t and it’s a nice lesson for the boys to have, that no matter who they are playing against they have to be on it from the first minute.
“They have got to be on it and hopefully they have learned that lesson from that game, because we need to bring our A game to every single fixture. Every game is a cup final from now until the end of the season if they want success.”