Hucknall Town camp positive as new boss tackles fight to climb table

With no game last weekend, new boss Tris Whitman has been assessing his squad with a friendly game and some team bonding and Short said: “Whilst the last two months have been a whirlwind with comings and goings, the lads are in good spirits, and we enjoyed our Christmas night out in Lincoln despite the disappointing result against Boston.

“Since the new gaffer and team have come in, it's felt like nothing short of constant positivity and belief in the squad.

“There's been plenty of chats about what he expects from us, both as individual players and collectively as a team to ensure that we come good on the pitch and implement the way in which he wants us to play, both in and out of possession.

“The last three games have been a mixed bag.

“With the Lincoln game it was a very welcome win to boost morale, but then on the flip it was disappointing to not pick up anything from the last two - especially Deeping where I felt we were good enough for at least a point.

“Whilst our position isn't ideal, we are in a much better position than last year with pretty much everyone still left to play, so now it's time for us to kick on and start climbing that table.

“As always, the support from the fans is what drives us on and we thank them for that, so it will be good to get back on home turf this coming weekend.”

Whitman put last weekend's free Saturday to good use, saying: “We used last Saturday as an opportunity to get the lads in for some team bonding and training.

“The morning started off with some breakfast at the ground and a chance to analyse previous games as a group.

“We then broke into two teams where we did 90 minutes of coaching in an 11 v 11 format with some running in between.

“The day finished off with the lads going to the local pub for a couple of drinks.

“As a management team we felt it was important to utilise our time to incorporate some form of bonding alongside training.”

That was the second training session in a week, having played a behind closed doors friendly against Holwell.

Whitman continued: “Last Monday's game with Holwell was another good opportunity to get minutes into the lads and to assess the squad in full.

“Holwell provided a good challenge and the game was played at a good tempo meaning we had to move the ball quickly.

“Although the result wasn’t meaningful, it was more the performance which was most pleasing with some really good examples of what we want from the players.

“It was good to see us playing with more confidence and expressing ourselves without the fear of having to get a result, which is something we definitely need to now replicate when the league fixtures pick up over Christmas.

“On Saturday we hope to start to see some of the stuff we’ve worked on over the last two weeks displayed on the pitch, which will hopefully see an upturn in performances and results over the Christmas schedule.”

Entry is free for U16s on Saturday and the club are also asking those able to support their collection of tinned items for the Hucknall Food Bank by bringing items to this match.

All are welcome to the club Christmas Party straight after the match.