Baker makes case for defence as Blues push for promotion...
NEIL Baker says Leek Town’s defensive performance was a highlight as they maintained their play-off push with victory over Colne.
Blues cemented their fourthplace position in the Northern Premier League West Division with a 2-0 win at Harrison Park last weekend – their eighth success in nine outings.
Defender Scott Wara broke the deadlock with a stunning long-range strike, while the prolific Tim Grice added another goal to his tally to seal the points.
Baker said after the game: “I thought it would be a
dangerous game – they’ve got good players - but we won fairly comfortably.
“That’s a bonus to us when the centre-half bangs one in from the edge of the box – we weren’t expecting that.
“The clean sheet pleased me as much as anything. We restricted them to shots from long-range, especially in the second half.
“We work on getting low balls in and we expect the players to get across their markers.
“We learned a little bit from last week when Olly (Harrison) wasn’t far enough across to give Josh (Ryder) cover. That was different today, they were covering one another and the gaps weren’t as big.”
Leek are nine points off the top, but crucially have an 11-point cushion to sixthplaced Clitheroe in their quest
to secure a top-five place. They entertain Glossop North End this weekend, and Baker will once again be keeping a close eye on the fitness of his squad.
His options have been hit in recent weeks, with key men Marc Grocott, Dan Trickettsmith, Rob Stevenson and Jack Wakefield all missing out.
The long-term absentee is Wakefield, who isn’t expected to be back in action until next season.
Baker added: “It could be six to nine months. It’s an ACL. He won’t play this season and it’ll be next season, if everything goes well.
“I’m always concerned when
they don’t operate on those injuries, they try and rehab them. My worry is it isn’t right and then six to nine months down the line they say he needs an operation when it could have been done first.
“The lad’s gutted, and we’re all gutted, not just because he was in a good run of form, but because he’s a young lad. At one time, that would have been a career-threatening injury. They’re not so much now, but it’s still a long time.
“He’s young enough to bounce back from it, and he’s a determined lad so I hope he will.”
Grocott has also hit a bump in the road in his recovery from injury, while Trickettsmith and Stevenson also need careful managing.
“Marc had a bit of a setback, the diagnosis wasn’t very good,” explained Baker.
“I thought he came out a bit quickly, he should have had a boot on but he hasn’t. Now he has, so he’s reasonably painfree. We think the bone has healed, but there might be a problem further down with his ligament or tendon.
“We’re hopeful that when he gets the boot off he can start building up his rehab.
“I thought Dan might be fit for this week, but it’s proving to be slow. It’s an abductor problem in the groin, and they can linger.
“He said he felt a bit better the last few days. There’s a possibility he might train on Thursday, and if he does, he’s in contention for the weekend.
“Rob’s still in pain. Our physio has diagnosed a bruised bone, but we might have to look into that a bit further.”