Fixture back-log is a "tall order", says Fleet boss Daish

WEMBLEY BOUND heroes Ebbsfleet United continue their hectic schedule with a trip to already relegated basement club Droylsden tonight, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Fleet had to come from behind to defeat Farsley Celtic on Tuesday night, winning 3-1, courtesy of goals from James Smith, Luke Moore and Charley Hearn.

The Kent side have played fifteen games since the first day of March and after tonight’s trip to the Manchester area return to Stonebridge Road on Saturday when Altrincham visit.

Then it’s back on the road and a trip to Forest Green Rovers next Tuesday before giants Oxford United come to Stonebridge Road on the last day of the season, Saturday 26^th April, 5:15pm.

A possible Kent Senior Cup final tie against Cray Wanderers could also be filled in before the club’s big day out at Wembley Stadium in the FA Carlsberg Trophy Final against Torquay United on Saturday, 10^th May.

Boss Liam Daish, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk after Tuesday night’s victory, isn’t pleased that his side are forced up and down the country in a hectic last couple of months.

“It’s going to be difficult again,” he said. “We’re up at Droylsden (on) Thursday, we’ll probably get back in our beds (at) 3 o’clock Friday morning and then we’ve got another game on the Saturday against Altrincham.

“It’s absolutely crazy and it’s not fair on players. It’s their livelihoods and we’ve been doing it now, this isn’t a one-off, we’ve been doing this now for the last six weeks, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. We’ve been doing Thursday’s as well - it’s a tall order.”

Smith, who netted the equaliser against Farsley Celtic with a 55^th minute header, believes his team-mates can cope with their hectic schedule.

“We’ve got the squad to cope, we’ve just got to look after ourselves and just be positive,” the former Welling United central defender told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We’ll just get as many points as we possibly can in these last few games.

“We’re training well, we’re still training well. The preparation’s really good for us and we’ve been looking after ourselves and that’s the important thing, (we’ll) make sure we’re eating well, drinking well and then I don’t think we shouldn’t have a problem.

“It’s important that you do look after ourselves because there’s so many games.

“Maybe players who aren’t playing maybe can come in but you’ve got to keep in going, keep being positive and look after ourselves and we’ll be alright.”

Reflecting on their last game, Smith admitted the first half performance wasn’t up to the Fleet’s usual standards.

“I don’t think we were on the ball in the first half,” he admitted. “We were making mistakes that we shouldn’t really do normally but I think we made amends in the second half.

“I think we should have done it from the start but the second half was a little bit better.”

Farsley had grabbed the lead, against the run of play, in the 35^th minute when striker David McNiven latched onto a ball over the top of the Fleet defence to lob goalkeeper Lance Cronin from 25-yards.

And Smith admitted: “The goal, I feel it was my fault. Obviously it’s my second game back now and I’m just getting that little bit of sharpness now and hopefully I’ll keep on playing towards near to Wembley.”

Meanwhile, acting chairman, Mr Brian Kilcullen revealed that the Stonebridge Road club have sold over 18,000 tickets for the FA Carlsberg Trophy Final.

And Mr Kilcullen expressed his feelings over the timing of the Kent Senior Cup Final against Cray Wanderers at Hayes Lane.

The county cup final has been pencilled in for Saturday, 3^rd May, although this game will be put back to a pre-season date if Ian Jenkins’ side play a Ryman League Division One South play-off final on that day.

“It’s one of those unfortunate situations,” Mr Kilcullen said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We’ve got the Wembley game, they’ve got a potential play-off game and it’s been hard to squeeze it in.

“We may end up playing them on the Saturday (3^rd May) depending on their (play-off semi-final) result. It not, it will be pre-season.

“I’m sure Liam wants to put out a good team for the final if possible.

“It’s just the fixture backlog, it’s unfortunate on us and Cray Wanderers because we do take the competition seriously so we’ll see what happens.”

Visit Ebbsfleet United’s website: www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk

Droylsden v Ebbsfleet United
Blue Square Premier
Thursday 17^th April 2008
Kick Off 7:45pm

Ebbsfleet United v Altrincham
Blue Square Premier
Saturday 19^th April 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Stonebridge Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 9GN