BOSS LUKE IS ON THE MARK FOR RICKETTS
BOREHAM Wood captain Mark Ricketts has hailed the hard work of manager Luke Garrard as the key factor behind their history-making FA Cup run and league form.
Wood’s season hit another high last weekend when goals from Tyrone Marsh and Adrian Clifton knocked out League One club AFC Wimbledon to progress into the fourth round where they’ll visit AFC Bournemouth.
They are also firmly in the National League title race as they bid to reach the EFL for the first time and put to rest two playoff failures.
And stalwart Ricketts has recognised the efforts of 36-year-old boss Garrard in their pursuit of success.
“The work the gaffer does is unbelievable,” he told The NLP. “He’s one of the hardest-working managers I’ve ever seen.
“He puts in so much work on preparing for games and analysing other teams. When we come out to play there’s no stone left unturned. We have a real understanding of what the other team has to offer.
“We try to be as hard to break down as possible, even more so this year we tried to adapt our play to how we have been in seasons gone by.”
Ricketts has also played a key part in Wood establishing themselves as a top National League side.
The 37-year-old midfielder has chalked up over 250 appearances since joining in 2016 and wants to continue being one of the most consistent performers in the division.
“I’m really enjoying my football still,” he said. “I feel pretty fit, after some games it takes a little bit longer to recover although usually I can recover just about in time to go again!
“I always said to myself to keep going until I feel not so good before or after games or if I don’t feel like I can do what I should be doing for the team. I wouldn’t want to let anyone down.”
Ricketts had never played in the FA Cup third round after missing out on Wood’s clash against Millwall last season but the victory over Wimbledon more than made up for it.
“It was probably the best moment in my career,” he said. “Being able to lead the side out against Wimbledon was a really special moment.”
Now he’ll tick off another first in the fourth round against the Championship leaders Bournemouth.
“When you see the draw coming out you’re hoping for one of the top Premier League teams but at the same time we’ve got a team who will be in the Premier League next year,” he added. “It’s a tough game. We’ll see what we can do on the day, you never know.”