Altrincham FC manager Lee Sinnott gives us the inside track on the Robins’ progress this season in the Vanarama National League. Here’s his latest column for Altrincham Today.
We’ve finally had a week without a Tuesday night fixture, which has given the squad enough time to recover from a long trip back from Dover after a tough match. With two games in three days coming up this week it’s vital that the squad have had this break to put them in the best possible condition for these next two big games coming up this weekend.
Looking back at the Dover match, it was a game of poor quality really that wasn’t helped by the sweltering conditions. I think both teams were suffering after playing another midweek game the week before.
Let’s not forget, before making the trip to Dover on Friday we had to get through 103 minutes of football against Grimsby Town. It was a very scrappy game and we were obviously very disappointed to come back with no points. The match looked a draw all day long and a very controversial goal in the last minute has taken a point from us.
That goal of course came whilst our goalkeeper Stu Coburn was down injured on the floor and yet the officials still awarded the goal. Stu is waiting for a scan on his calf and we’ll take it from there. We’d imagine it’s going to be a few weeks but it could be longer depending on the results of the scan. We’re hopeful that Adam Griffin will be fit for the weekend after he jarred his back at Dover, but it’s settled down well and he’s participating in training so hopefully he’ll be ready for the game on Saturday.
We signed Andy Parry from Luton Town on a one-month loan last week as cover for the injured Tom Marshall and Gianluca Havern. I was very happy with how Andy slotted into the team last weekend and struck up a partnership straight away with Scott Leather. We’re happy to have him on board and hopefully he can be a big player for us while he’s here.
The two games this weekend see us travel to the Merseyrail Community Stadium to play Southport on Bank Holiday Monday.
But before that we are back at the J Davidson this Saturday to take on Tranmere Rovers who will be bringing a large following from the Wirral. I know our fans will be up for the game and if we perform to the levels we have done so far at home this season, then I’m confident we can get a positive result in front of our fans.
