‘All we can do is fight on’ - Vance

It is a far-from-promising predicament which manager Tony Vance said reflected the reality of the club’s position at the moment.

‘Every now and then we get questions asked on the back of results and performances and where we actually are in terms of capability, and this is the perfect answer and example of what life is like as Guernsey FC manager,’ he said.

‘We lost 8-0 last Saturday and deserved to, then at training on Tuesday, for various reasons, we had only six there, and now we’re going away to the team third in the league with 13.

‘We need to be realistic about where we are, and everyone in the camp knows that.’

Guernsey FC go into the game in the relegation zone but Vance is not worried about the prospect of going down.

‘When the clocks change we’ll be OK,’ he said, semi-seriously.

‘We’ve obviously got a lot of players out injured or unavailable for various reasons, or not committing. All we can do is fight with what we’ve got. Twelve outfield players went away on Saturday and we lost 8-0, and they’re on the plane again.

‘We’ve got to tick this period off. We are right down at the bottom and we deserve to be there because of the situation we’re in, but when we get players back we will beat teams and get out of the relegation zone.

‘But now we’ve just got to roll our sleeves up and get on with it.’

Walton & Hersham are right up in the promotion mix but have gone through an unsettled period themselves recently, winning three and losing three of their last six games.

But goal-shy Guernsey, with just six league goals all season, have taken two points from their last five matches and have just one win in the last 10. But they were never outclassed until last weekend’s meeting with Basingstoke.

‘We’ll approach the game in the same way we have been doing for the last six weeks. We haven’t got the players ultimately, so we cannot play a certain way, and so we are literally scrapping for anything we can and trying to stop the opposition scoring, which we didn’t manage – well, we managed for 20 minutes – last Saturday.’

Two players on the plane tomorrow are at different ends of the age spectrum but are likely to be important for the club over the rest of the season.

Midfielder Dave Merris has come into the reckoning at GFC in recent weeks, having apparently moved on from Bels, where he had played all his club football since moving to the island.

‘I think he’s outstanding. Even at 42 he’s one of the fittest and sharpest around the pitch, and his ability is just class. He’s been a breath of fresh air for me,’ said Vance.

Meanwhile teenager Brandon Wallace continues to make an impression at GFC, and was the class act in the Priaulx League table-topper clash at Northfield on Tuesday evening.

‘It’s easy for him at that level,’ Vance said. ‘This is completely different, but he’s doing really well, and over the next year or so he will be starting for GFC as one of our trump cards.’

Guernsey FC squad:

Josh Addison, Jason Martin, Keanu Marsh, Jamie Dodd, Tom Dodds, Tom Vaudin, Dave Merris, Kieran Mahon, Liam Mahon, Matt Loaring, Danny Hale, Keene Domaille, Brandon Wallace.