Cray Wanderers agree loan deal to bring striker Lewis Perkins back to Hayes Lane

Friday 29th October 2010

CRAY WANDERERS assistant manager Paul Blade says his side must stop in-form striker Danny Hockton if they are to progress in the FA Carlsberg Trophy, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Maidstone United striker has scored nine goals so far this season (scoring in each of his last seven games) and the Stones have been rejuvenated under new boss Andy Ford, picking up two wins and a draw during his honeymoon period.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Blade warned when speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk on the eve of the Kent derby at Hayes Lane.

“They’re having a good run at the minute. They’re unbeaten since we beat them. With a new manager coming in, they’ve got a resurgence, a little bit of lift for everyone and people playing for places.

“Like all centre forwards once you start (scoring) you go on a roll so we have to stop that threat. We did go and watch them against Hendon and he was a threat again there so we’re going to have our work cut out but at the same time we’re confident enough.

“If we play to our potential and the second half against Billericay, I think we’ve got a good chance.”

The Wands go into Saturday’s Kent derby without strikers Leigh Bremner (thigh) and Carl Gibbs (broken rib), who were injured during the first half away to Billericay in midweek.

Blade said: “We lost Leigh Bremner again after around 10 minutes and then we lost Carl Gibbs with a broken rib, which slightly punctured his lung.

“The boys that came on done really well and got us back into the game to be fair, but as you say it’s one of them.”

Reflecting on the 2-1 defeat, Blade continued: “We didn’t start well and they started brightly and we paid the price for that and we gave away a sloppy goal.

“Second goal we dug in a little bit - a few words were said at half-time - and we done alright and we could have got something out of the game. Their keeper pulled off some good saves. Personally three-all would have been a fair result at the end of the day. “

Hockton’s two goals sealed Maidstone United a 2-1 win over Croydon Athletic in midweek, a result that saw the Kent club climb out of the Ryman Premier League relegation zone and into seventeenth place.

Blade said: “We can’t start like we did and we need to start brightly on Saturday. I know the league position don’t like, they’re there for a reason but they haven’t been beaten in the last four games. They beat Croydon (Athletic) in midweek so we’re expecting a tough game and we have to be at it.”

The Wands sit in 12th place in the table with 16 points from 12 games - but Blade was hoping for better.

He said: “To be honest with you we sat down the other night and we had a chat about it. We should be higher than we are!

“We’ve given away silly points in games where we were a little bit naive. I think we should have four more points than we should have and that’s disappointing in that side of it.

“We played against Sutton and we absolutely smashed them second half and their keeper got man-of-the-match. We really should have had the three points at Sutton and I think they were fortunate to come away with a point.

“We’ve been in every single game and we’ve outplayed every single team. We’re really confident at the moment and our expectations are really high and every game we drop points we are really disappointed with it.”

Blade confirmed that a loan deal has been struck with League One side Charlton Athletic to bring striker Lewis Perkins back to Hayes Lane.

“Hopefully soon we’ll have Lewis Perkins come back from Charlton,” he said. “He started training again now with Charlton, hopefully they’ll release him back to us for the forthcoming games.

“He can’t play tomorrow because of the FA Trophy but I think after this weekend he could be available to come on loan, which has been agreed.

“It’s another body, another good player we can add to the squad.”

Visit Cray Wanderers’ website: www.craywands.co.uk

Cray Wanderers v Maidstone United

FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Qualifying Round

Saturday 30th October 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF