One of the biggest games in the second tier takes place at Halkyn Road tomorrow , as Holywell Town host Caernarfon in a top four clash, and John Haseldin is ready for the tough test ahead.
Fourth-placed Holywell find themselves 10 points behind first-placed Caernarfon, but with two games in hand over them a home victory could make all the difference and see them climb back into the top three.
Speaking to Y Clwb Pel Droed, Haseldin is expecting a tough test against Sean Eardley’s side, but believes in his players’ abilities to get one over the league leaders.
“We are expecting a tough game of course that goes without saying. They are the most consistent team in the league at the moment they have a group of players that have been together a number of years now which helps massively and not only can they play football but they can also battle as well which is important to have in this league. However I feel we have similar attributes to them in our squad and we can more than match them on our day.”
Like most teams this winter, Holywell have struggled with game postponements, but can take confidence from their last result, an 8-0 win over basement boys Queens Park.
“We were pleased with the result in the end. There was plenty of positives to take from the game and the lads showed a ruthlessness in the second half which I was pleased with and another clean sheet. It’s easy to take your foot of the gas in games like that but credit to the lads they kept going and got their rewards.”
Haseldin has been keeping a close eye on Caernarfon and accepts there is a winning spirit about the side who currently look poised to earn promotion to the JD Welsh Premier League.
“I’ve watched them a few times this season and over the years and both Sean and Iwan inherited a winning team at Caernarfon and have kept that going.”
With the business end of the season coming up, his focus remains on getting games in to reach an unchanged end of season target.
“We have 8 league games left and the lads know our targets with the remaining fixtures and our objectives haven’t changed. We have fell away a bit but that’s been out of our hands with the bad weather and we are all just looking forward to getting back out on the pitch sooner rather than later.”
Holywell have recently announced the re signing of Shaun Tuck to the delight of Haseldin, who now has a bolstered range of attackers to choose from.
“Yes glad to have Shaun back with us obviously he had a successful period with us before and I know him really well. We have been offensively really strong this season and he will further strengthen our options in the final third for our run in.”
Holywell have five key players returning for the Caernarfon game, which kicks off at Halkyn Road at 2:30pm on Saturday.
“Lee Fowler, Shaun Tuck, Gareth Sudlow, Danny Desormeaux and Matty Harvey all return after missing QP game. Mark Winslade is a doubt.”
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