Consistency the key to Adams' top-ten hopes for Town

FOOTBALL

CARL Adams has urged his Stratford Town players to prove they are learning to become more and more consistent.

Town will be looking to complete an excellent week this afternoon (Saturday, 3pm) against Royston Town at the MoodChimp Stadium when they target three wins in a row for the first time this season.

After the recent heartache following their FA Cup exit to Scarborough Athletic, they head into their first home meeting with Royston in buoyant mood after bagging 12 goals in two games and with strikers Jazz Luckie, Mike Taylor, Edwin Ahenkorah and Justin Marsden all among the goals.

But manager Adams stressed they need to show they can keep producing their best game after game, week after week.

“We have only really had two bad games all season,” said Adams.

“I keep telling people that we have played a lot of big teams already and got some really tough away games out of the way.

“We need to put a run together, play with confidence and if we do that we are not going to be far away from a top-ten team. That’s what I want.”

But he also says the players also need to take on individual and collective responsibility.

“The confidence can’t always come from me,” said Adams. “It has to come from within the players themselves and that’s what I’m trying to get them to understand.

“They have got to lift each other because sometimes I need lifting too. The Scarborough result has really hurt this squad but we have got to move on.”

Adams made a raft of changes in the 7-4 Bigfreebet.com Challenge Cup win against Evesham, with skipper James Fry, defensive stalwart Andy Gallinagh, and midfield linchpin Will Grocott all having a complete night off after featuring in every game previously. They should return today.

Hertfordshire side Royston are playing at their highest level in their 142-year history, having won the Central Division title last season by 12 points and scoring the highest number of goals in any division in the Southern League.

Town won 2-1 at Garden Walk in the first match of the season in August, with goals from Ben Stephens and Lee Thomas, but Steve Castle’s Crows are on a four-match winning roll in league and cup. They lie in 11th place in the table, six points ahead of 19th-placed Town.

Meanwhile, Town’s second round Bigfreebet.com Cup clash at Redditch United has been arranged for Tuesday, 7th November.

Town youth’s Midland Floodlit Youth League, Premier Division South fixture away to Stourbridge has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, 25th October, instead of Monday. Kick-off is 7.45pm.