McMahon pleased with strength in depth

THAMESMEAD TOWN manager Keith McMahon is without six players for their trip to Enfield Town on Saturday, writes Stephen McCartney.

Pedro Knight (groin); Lew Watts (hamstring); Peter Smith (groin); Marc Merridan (groin); Danny Chapman (broken ankle) and Lee Loveridge (hip muscle) are all expected to miss the trip to north London.

Enfield Town are one place below the Mead in seventeenth place in the Ryman League Division One North table, with five wins and three draws from 16 games.

McMahon’s men, meanwhile, go into the game with a record of five wins and four draws from 19 games and the manager is expecting a tough encounter at Goldsdown Road.

“We’re away from home, to be fair, they had a poor start and signed a few players and picked up of late,” McMahon told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“They’re good going forward, very quick and have a good home record. They’re below us in the table (but) we played Redbridge last Saturday, they were fifth and we’re 15^th (and) they’re only seven points clear of us so there isn’t a huge difference in the league.

“It will be a good test for us; if we look after them going forward; we’ve got a good chance.”

Thamesmead have played Redbridge twice at home this week; sharing the points in a 1-1 draw in the league last Saturday before going out of the London Senior Cup with a 2-0 defeat after 120 minutes of football last night.

“The first game on Saturday we played fairly well,” reflected McMahon. “We had quite a few players missing, we were on the short side.

“We deserved the draw; it was quite a good battle. It was a good game to watch; both teams looking to win - a fair result.

“Last night in the first half we were excellent; played some good stuff (but) lacked a little bit of quality in the final third.

“But second half and extra time we were poor. We picked up a few injuries; went to extra time and didn’t look like winning. They deserved their win to be honest.”

Despite a lengthy injury list, McMahon is boosted with the return off Scott Mulholland and James Brown, who played 25 minutes last night following his knee ligament injury.

“We’re not complaining,” insisted McMahon. “We’ve got strength in depth to cope and our reserves have proved that. My reserve players are young and have come in and done a job for us.”

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.co.uk

Enfield Town v Thamesmead Town
Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 29^th November 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Brimsdown Sports and Social Club, Goldsdown Road, Enfield, Middlesex EN3 7RP