Green Lions out to end ‘mini blip’
THE hosts may have three new signings ready to make their debuts, but Tony Vance says his Green Lions should not be fearful of taking on out-of-form Sittingbourne tonight.
But the Guernsey FC manager has admitted that his side must perform better than they did at Phoenix Sports on Saturday, where they suffered a 5-0 Bostik South hammering.
Most of the same squad travel on this occasion, although Dave Rihoy and Tom de la Mare are among those missing, as GFC look for their first away win since mid-November.
Vance believes it is possible against a side struggling just as badly, having not won on home soil in three months.
‘This certainly isn’t a game that we should be fearing in any way, it isn’t a fixture where I am worried about going there and it being a really long night,’ he said.
‘We have a strong group that is travelling but it all comes down to whether we turn up and perform like we can because if we don’t, we will be punished.
‘At the moment we are being punished at one end of the pitch for any mistakes we make and are struggling to score at the other end, so hopefully we can start to get those things right and get out of this mini-blip.’
GFC are 20th in the table, six places and nine points below Sittingbourne, although Vance’s men have played a game less than their hosts.
Indeed, it is a game between two of the most out-of-form sides in the league, as Sittingbourne have lost their last seven games, which has seen them slide out of the play-off places and down the table.
However, in a bid to rectify that problem they have delved into the transfer market and added a trio of new faces, all from a higher level.
Striker Richmond Ayoola has arrived from Kingstonian, while midfielders Alfie Cue and Rhys Bartlett have also come through the entry door from Dartford and Maidstone respectively.
In terms of fresh faces in the Guernsey ranks, Dom Heaume and Charlton Gauvain both return after a game out apiece, while Ben Coulter could start for the first time since returning from Australia.
He came off the bench in the defeat at Phoenix that Vance admitted is a game he will not want to revisit in a hurry.
‘They were a good side and were better than us, it is as simple as that really – we were struggling with knocks and niggles and they punished us.’
Tonight’s match kicks off at 7.45pm.
Guernsey FC squad
Callum Stanton, Keanu Marsh, Simon Geall, Angus Mackay, Alex Le Prevost, Jamie Dodd, Jacob Fallaize, Harry Tobin, Tom Dodds, Ben Coulter, Craig Young, Charlton Gauvain, Dom Heaume, Paris Pereira.
