Kentish Express Ashford & District
No chance of complacency
GREENWICH WON’T BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED
Ashford United face a voyage into the unknown on Saturday.
They’re preparing to host a Greenwich side hammered 7-2 at home by fellow strugglers Herne Bay last weekend.
Borough have shipped 15 goals in their last three games yet managed to win at promotionchasing Hythe last month.
Ashford boss Tommy Warrilow admits it’s difficult to know what to expect from the visitors at Homelands.
He said: “You can go and watch teams but they’re just unpredictable.
“I’m taking nothing for granted and I’ll treat them the same way I would treat the team top of the league. I’ve always done that.
“Hand on heart, which Greenwich Borough turns up, who knows? They’ve still got some good players on paper.
“It’s important we don’t drop our standards and avoid the potential banana-skin because we want to keep closing the gap on second spot.”
Ashford, the form team in Bostik South East, are up to fourth with just a point separating them and Horsham, in third.
Warrilow’s side have taken 16 of a possible 21 points since his appointment – a remarkable record given the ongoing turnover of players.
“We’ve brought in five and we’re still getting seven-day approaches,” Warrilow said. “I love it because it’s part of managing; you’ve got to shake the tree and see what comes out regarding bringing players in.
“I’d like to bring in players I know but at the same time we’ve had a couple of lads ask to come down and we said we’d have a look at them.
“It’s been a fantastic start and to creep into the play-offs as well is an added bonus.
“It’s quite a short season. There weren’t a lot of teams as it was (20) and then Thamesmead went.
“It’s going to be a quick season but I’m well happy with the way it’s gone and I only want it to get better and improve.
“We’re getting that bit of stability where there’s not going to be an abundance of players coming in. There will hopefully be a couple more.
“On Saturday we had three out suspended and we haven’t got a massive squad so that hurt us.”
Bode Anidugbe returns this weekend but Lea Dawson and Stefan Cox are still banned while Theo Fairweather-Johnson (leg) is a doubt after coming off with a knock during the 2-0 win over Whitstable on Saturday.
Trey Williams came off the bench to score Ashford’s first goal, having joined from Ramsgate on Friday.
Warrilow said: “We had him at Thamesmead, he went to Whyteleafe and then down to Ramsgate.
“He’s got a lot to offer so we put seven days in and we’ve got him with us now.”