MELKSHAM Town is struggling to stay near the top of the Toolstation Premier League Table after two losses on the bounce and three away games next in line.
The team has suffered losses to Bridport and Shepton Mallet in the last week, losing 1-0 in both games, and has won just one of its last five league games. A 2-2 draw against Willand Rovers on Saturday 29th August saw the team gain one point, but they haven’t managed to find the net since.
However, manager Darren Perrin insists they’ll be back to their winning ways in no time.
Darren said, “We’ve had two tough games because the team has been absolutely decimated by unavailabilities. Due to holidays, stag do’s and work commitments there have been up to 13 players unavailable, and it’s taken its toll.
“We should never ever have lost the game against Bridport, but it’s just not running for us at the moment. We’ve got to take the bad times as well as the good, and the team has to be strong enough to accept that. The match against Shepton Mallet was different – they were a tough opponent and we were poor in the first half, there’s no two ways about that. But I’ve got to give credit to the guys, the team dominated them in the second half and it was all one-way traffic; we did everything but score.”
Melksham are now sixth in the table and five points behind leaders and dangerous title rivals Buckland Athletic.
Darren continued, “We’re behind on points but there’s certainly no panic in the team. We’re well aware that this is going to be a tough season and other teams are trying particularly hard to beat us – you can tell that just from the celebrations when we lose.
“However, without a doubt we will come back even stronger from these losses. As a manager I’m looking for stability and once the team is back together we’ll be back to our winning ways, I have no doubt about that.
“I’ve got full confidence in these lads and they and I will always do our best for the club. We’ve still got a good chance to do well as long as the team is consistent. However, I think sooner or later we’re going to need a budget to be able to keep our players. There are some guys in this league who get paid an obscene amount and we just can’t match up to that, so there is a danger that other teams will come after our players.”
Melksham’s next match will see them play away to Bristol side Cribbs on Saturday 12th September. Kick off is at 3pm.