We will need to be focused to come away from Faversham with anything, says Phoenix Sports manager Paul Bryon

PHOENIX SPORTS manager Paul Bryon says his side will need to be focused to come away from Faversham Town with points in the bag tomorrow.

Phoenix are sitting in tenth-place in the Bostik South East Division table with 35 points from their 27 league games and have nine league games remaining.

Bryon’s men went down to a 1-0 home defeat to runaway leaders Cray Wanderers last weekend.

“We face Faversham tomorrow and we will need to be focused to come away with anything,” said Bryon.

“Last week we lost to Cray Wanderers and some may say that’s not too bad but I was disappointed with the result.

“The first half performance we showed them far too much respect and it was comfortable for them.  We did not keep the ball and we panicked and thought we had to defend the whole game. We had no composure and we ball shy when we did have it.

“Saying that, being 1-0 down at half time and we knew we were still in the game.

“Second half we were a lot braver and got higher up the pitch we were looking for the ball and it was a far better performance.

“We need to believe in ourselves a little more and that is down to me and the management team to instil the belief in the squad.

“The first half was a complete contrast to the previous week with a really good result away at Ashford.”

Faversham Town have clawed themselves away from relegation trouble in recent weeks and are in the bottom five with 29 points from 28 games, five points clear of the sole relegation spot, occupied by Greenwich Borough.

“As I said, we will have to be on it from minute one as Faversham are a good side and have some game changers in their squad,” said Bryon.

“In our reverse fixture we gifted them a head start and had to work hard to get a point.

“We cannot start that slow again and this is the message we will be giving the lads before the game tomorrow.

“We know on our day we can compete with all teams in the league, as no one so far has done the double on us including the top five and there are only two teams left to play who could do this.

“This shows us consistency and depth of squad are very important at this level as even against teams lower down in the league you cannot have an off day.

“We have learnt a lot so far this season and I am sure there are one or two more lessons to learn before the season finishes.”

Meanwhile, reserve team manager Del Oldfield revealed in his pre-match interview that Sam Fitzgerald, Andrew Dythe, Dan Hunwick and Kameron Mendez have all been called up to the first team for tomorrow’s trip to Salters Lane.

Visit Phoenix Sports’ website: www.phoenixsportsclub.co.uk

Faversham Town  v  Phoenix Sports
Bostik South East Division
Saturday 9 March 2019
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Salters Lane, Faversham, Kent ME13 8ND