‘Blues shouldn’t worry about league position’

Skipper says Burnham must continue working hard after draw

Captain Carl Dennison (centre) isn’t interested in looking at the table and where Burnham currently lie. He says his young team are better off getting their heads down and putting in a shift in every match from now until the end of the season.

The Blues were once sitting pretty at the top of the Combined Counties Premier Division North but defeats to Ascot United and Reading City, and a draw with Flackwell Heath most recently, has placed them fifth.

That hasn’t worried Dennison, however, and he believes the side are still in the chase for promotion - the players just shouldn’t put unnecessary pressure on themselves by focusing on a league position.

“During my career, I have never really been part of a team that have consistently fought at the top of the division or been promoted so I haven’t needed to look at the table,” he said.

“If you constantly look at the table, then you think you have to perform every week and that puts a lot of pressure on yourself. I don’t want our players to feel that because they are young and still developing.

“At 34, I am the eldest, while the rest range from 16 to 28. We will all just have to keep working hard and see where that lands us at the end of the season.”

Reflecting on Burnham’s clash with Flackwell Heath, Dennison said it was nice to be considered the man of the match but admitted he didn’t have a lot to do.

“I think I had three saves to make in total,” he said before adding, “But they obviously proved to be important ones.

“If we had taken our chances, I think the game could have been totally different.

“Obviously it was a local derby and it became a bit of a heated affair.

“Everybody knew everybody in the game on Saturday and a few heavy tackles were flying in.

“A few of our boys play for FAB or have been at the FAB Academy. Chris Ayres is a coach there too.

“To be fair, I feel that we had the better of the chances over Flackwell but we just couldn’t convert.

“A draw is a positive result given our previous two and to get a clean sheet is a bonus.”

Dennison added: “Flackwell Heath are a very good outfit. They are coached really well.

“They want to play football but they also have the ability to go long or be more direct because they have the two big guys up front.

“They have got the best of both worlds I think.

“I have got a lot of time for Chris Ayres and Paul Shone. They were at Burnham in the past and they are also really nice people outside of football.”

Wallingford & Crowmarsh are Burnham’s hosts this Saturday. Kickoff is at 3pm.