I really want to get our season going, says Tonbridge Angels boss Tommy Warrilow

TONBRIDGE ANGELS manager Tommy Warrilow says it’s his job to get the potential out of his struggling team.

The Angels are in the bottom three in The Skrill South after 12 games but attention now turns to The FA Carlsberg Trophy when AFC Sudbury visit Longmead Stadium on Saturday.

AFC Sudbury are staying over in Dartford overnight ahead of Saturday’s Third Qualifying Round and arrive in Kent sitting in eighth-place in the Ryman League Division One South table, having won seven and drawn four of their 15 league games.

Tonbridge Angels are two leagues above the Suffolk outfit but face a potential banana skin, having won three and drawn three of their 12 games in Conference South.

When asked what he is expecting on Saturday, Warrilow replied: “A hard game!  I’ve had them watched and I’ve seen them. They’re a hard working side and they’re preparing for it properly, staying overnight etc etc.

“They’re a hard working side with a bit of experience so we have to make sure that we’re on our game on Saturday.

“I just want us to – I really want to get our season going. It’s been so inconsistent. I want us to relax, play to our potential and just get our season going, try and get some consistency in our game.

“They’ve (my players) trained hard again this week after two weeks without a game but I want us to start fulfilling the potential that I know that we’ve got.”

The Angels boss was then asked what he is missing in his squad.

“Do I know what’s missing? Just a little bit of luck wouldn’t go amiss. I don’t know. It’s just a few combination of things.

“I don’t think we’ve got a player-of-the-year – we’ve all been coughing and spluttering and we’re just trying to find that consistency. I want to get their confidence up, relaxed and playing.

“We’re missing something at the moment. I know I’ve got it in my squad and it’s my job to bring it out.  The buck doesn’t stop with the players.

“I know that we’re not a million miles away. It’s just there’s a few things that need find tweaking.

“Put it like this. If we’re only ten points off the fifth-spot 12 games in and the way we’ve started, I said to our boys imagine if we start getting some consistency in our game and start stringing some results together, look what we can do?

“We’re not getting outclassed or outplayed or look a complete mess. Even when we’ve lost games it’s been mostly down to us and sometimes it’s the odd decision that’s not gone our way.

“It’s not a big catastrophe, it’s just a few problems that we need to erase and address and once we do that we’ll be ok.”

The Angels will bank a welcomed £4,000 in prize money should they knock AFC Sudbury out of The FA Trophy.

“In The FA Cup and The FA Trophy, all clubs are trying to stay in for as long as possible and progress and with the finances that come with it.

“It’s just one of them. We can build the game up because every game is a must-win game. I’m just concentrating trying to get my lads to go out there and relax and give their all and if they do that and do the right things you can’t ask for much.

“In all the games we’ve lost and drawn there’s always a reason why and it’s mainly to do with ourselves and not the opposition.

“It’s something that we can rectify and we know we can get it right and push on and hopefully have a better season than last season but at the moment it’s very frustrating. When you lose games every critic has got an opinion, which they’re entitled to.

“It’s just silly things when we do lose games that we can stop so it’s fixable, but it’s easier said than done to say that. Actions speak louder than words. We’ve got to make sure we take that in to Saturday’s game, that attitude.”

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website:  www.tonbridgeangelsonline.co.uk

Tonbridge Angels  v  AFC Sudbury

The FA Carlsberg Trophy Third Qualifying Round

Saturday 16^th November 2013

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Longmead Stadium, Darenth Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN10 3JF