Hungerford are up and running
HUNGERFORD Town boss Danny Robinson watched his squad compete in two friendlies as they stepped up their preparations for the new campaign.
The Crusaders hosted Hungerford Town Swifts at Bulpit Lane on Saturday, coming out as 4-0 winners, before winning 2-1 at Highworth Town on Tuesday night.
Town have been training for a number of weeks now, but it’s only recently that Robinson – who joined from West Berks rivals Thatcham Town earlier in the summer – has been able to see his squad in game situations.
He said: “It’s been a good opportunity to see all of the players because you can train as much as you want, but nothing beats seeing them in a game.
“With the date [to start the season] being pushed back to October, it gives us more time to really see the players and what they’re like in games.
“On Saturday, against the Swifts, it was a good club day and then against Highworth there were bits that were good and there were bits that weren’t so good.”
Despite coming away with two wins, to give himself a successful start to life at Hungerford, manager Robinson is aware of the improvements they have to make.
He said: “We are a million miles away from where we need to be, but that is what pre-season is for and we have to make sure we continue to build.
“We’re still two months away from when the season will start, so we have the time to look at each player and in games you can look at them square in the eye.
“It’s a process, I am happy with what I have seen from each individual and it is going to be hard to pick a squad from the players.
“We have to make sure we gradually build up so, when the season starts, we are ready.”
With the National League South being put back to a later date, preparations have been altered, but Robinson has admitted that they will still play friendlies.
“We have stopped training on a Thursday, but in a couple of weeks we will go back into a full pre-season programme.
“We have kept the friendlies because I don’t want to let players down because they want to play in these games.”
Across the two games, the Town boss made changes to his squad to allow players to showcase their skills.
And he feels that having competition within the squad can only bring out the best in players.
“I like having competition all around the pitch,” he said.
“Conor Lynch has scored, Kyle Tooze has, while James Harding and Ryan Seager have as well.
“It looks like it will be competitive up front and it’s the same in midfield and defence and we need to make sure we have that.”
I Former Hungerford Town manager Ian Herring, who left the club in the close season, has joined Hellenic League Premier Division side Fairford Town as a player.