Andy Graves confident Hucknall Town are going to get better

Town eased past Clifton All Whites with a 5-1 victory in midweek to leave them having lost just once in the league so far.

But Graves believes Town will get even better when player availability increases and players return back to full form.

“I know we will improve,” he said. “We are not firing on all cylinders yet and we are getting players back.

“Grant Ryan played his first 90 mins last night and worked really hard. He hasn't played since July for us, so 90 mins was good for him.

“He worked hard for the team and wasn’t selfish. Joe ashurst will be back, who gives us something different.

“Joe Butler is returning from a broken leg.”

Graves knows that it will increase his options and give him a welcome headache at the same time.

“It will give competition for places and it will be hard keeping people happy,” he said.

“The biggest issue coming up will be keeping people happy. Most players will be available for most games from next week.

“I have said we have a long way to go and everyone will be involved. If I see players that look tired we will give them a breather.

“We are not training, because of all the games we’ve had we had trained just once all season. It's good for match fitness but you can't work on things.

“Every player has a part to play or they wouldn't be at Hucknall.”

Town drew 2-2 at Kirby Muxloe on Saturday after missing a bagful of chances.

And, despite five goals on Wednesday, Graves is still reminding his players to make sure they have their shooting boots on.

“We got goals against Clifton, but if you want to be critical, we could have had more goals,” added Graves.

“Not as much as we could have had on Saturday though. You have never seen a game like it

“We had 27 chances that game and took two. We were guilty of big misses and that's why we drew when we could have easily won it.

“At half-time on Wednesday we were tied at 1-1 and I had a joke, but with serious intent.

“I drew a diagram on the board and said ‘that's what the goal looks like, it doesn’t move.’

“I got stick but the lads responded in the second half and got the goals.”

Town travel to Radford on Saturday in a rearranged fixture with a number of players likely to be missing.

“We will have about five players missing on Saturday with the last of the festivals and holidays,”he said.

“We just want to keep playing. We are not looking at the table - we will look at that at Christmas.

“A quick glance says we are in a good position with games in hand.”