Hucknall boss frustrated by fixture schedule

Town have only played four games in all competitions so far this season, with rearranged games already having impacted their momentum.

And having seen another midweek fixture against current leaders Sherwood Colliery moved from next Wednesday to a Saturday later in the season, Graves couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

He said: “It happens to us a lot. We were told that game had been moved to give us a rest ahead of the game against Eastwood in the FA Vase, but it’s not something we had a say in.

“What the league often fail to remember is that we have players who organise their work shifts in advance and get time off so that they can be available to play, particularly in midweek matches, only for the games to then be rearranged.

“In one case we’ve now got a game on December 30 - a big derby at Eastwood - that we didn’t originally have, but some lads have booked holidays given the time of year it is and they now can’t cancel them.

“We also prepare and print match programmes too, which ends up costing us money if they’re not used.

“I just feel more dialogue is needed with clubs. We’ve already agreed to help them out by moving one or two games voluntarily and yet we don’t seem to get that kind of assistance in return.”

Hucknall play just their fourth CML South game against Keyworth United on Saturday but then won’t have another league game until October 21 at South Normanton.