Flint Town United manager Neil Gibson has spoken of the issues his side has faced in their preparation of the resumption of the Cymru Premier season.
Currently sitting in ninth place, Flint are hopeful of avoiding the drop in their first season back in the top flight since 1998.
The league season has now been allowed to resume after receiving permission from the National Sport Group in Wales but the Flint boss is still cautious of the predicament the world finds itself in.
Gibson said: “We’re very conscious of the way the context in how now there is a global pandemic that’s spreading around and has cost many lives.
“From our point of view, as a football club, and as management, staff, and players, all we’ve got to do is get ourselves ready and show that we’re ready to work to do the best for Flint Town United Football Club.”
Gibson has been in the role since early December after succeeding Niall McGuinness as manager, following his departure from Prestatyn Town.
The timing of his appointment hasn’t coincided with the suspension of football in Wales coming later in the month, meaning he’s been able to manage just two matches.
Training was also suspended which meant his time with the players was limited and he has had to work remotely with the current squad and his newest recruitments.
“It’s very tight at the bottom of the league and the fixtures that we’ve got left up until the split include Connah’s Quay, Bala and TNS who will most likely be the top three teams in the league.”
“We’ve got a tough running up until the split, and it’s about working on what we can do to improve and picking up the points we know we could win.
“Once the split comes in, we can assess then what the targets are between then in the end of the season.” said Gibson.
Stamping his authority on the squad, he has recruited no fewer than 13 players with most of them coming from English non-league outfit Warrington.
The Silkmen boss has set out a new philosophy for his transfers as he sets out Flint to be a team for the future and not just the present.
“Two of our players we signed are over the age of 25, so we’ve looked to try and reduce the average age of the group and the way that we play is very much a high tempo and strategy football”.
“So the way that we go about that we need players with lots of energy players who’ve got a good work ethic and a good attitude. But most importantly technically and tactically capable to play in the manner that I want to play.”
“We’ve got one eye on players that can come in and push to improve us instantly and we’ve got another eye on players that we’re looking to bring in who we can help to develop and improve as footballer.
“It’s about along with building a sustainable good local team up then over the next five to ten years.”
As a result of not owning their own training facilities, Flint have encountered difficulties in their preparations for the season.
Despite being rivals in the league table as both aim to remain in the division, fellow Cymru Premier outfit the Cefn Druids have lent The Rock to them to train.
“We only started back as of 17th February. So we’re a little bit behind other clubs where they’ve had opportunities to continue to train or be with their full time players at some of the full time clubs within the Welsh Premier League”
“We’ve been very grateful that Cefn Druids have helped us out yesterday and gave us the use of their facilities for us to use. So we will backup and we were running last night in training, we put together a schedule for the players for the next three weeks.”
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