DARREN BYFIELD says the return of key players from injury will be vital in helping his Redditch United side regain their Southern League Premier Division momentum – and in the meantime has called for patience as the Reds bid to “ride it out”.
Having climbed to second in the table, United have lost their last two league games including Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Basingstoke Town and dropped to sixth, but still have a healthy 19 points from their opening ten games.
Furthermore, boss Byfield took great heart from Tuesday’s 9-1 home crushing of Southern League West strugglers Bishops Cleeve in the League Cup first round.
After falling behind early on, the Reds hit back to win thanks to goals from Spencer Weir-Daley (2), Dior Angus (2), Andi Thanoj, Orrin Pendley, Pauly Apostolopoulos, Gui Mailancol and Lewis Wright.
It was the perfect response to Saturday’s defeat when the Reds competed well for long periods until the Hampshire side struck three times in the final quarter of an hour.
“We did OK on Saturday for a good while, but it was always likely to be a difficult afternoon for us,” said Byfield.
“We’ve had key players like Kevin Monteiro, Vinny Mukendi and Jack Coates out injured for lengthy spells and then, an hour before meeting on Saturday, I got a phone call to say three more players were missing through sickness.
“Sometimes the fans who have a moan don’t know all the reasons and it’s frustrating, but of course they’re entitled to their opinions.
“We got to half time goalless and I knew that in an ideal world the team maybe needed some fresh legs – we certainly did on 70 minutes – but the options weren’t there on the bench, especially in attack.
“We’ve got a good team when everyone is fit, but we don’t have a big squad like some teams in this league. I think sometimes we deserve a bit of patience.
“That said, I made a mistake too. I tweaked our formation to accommodate what they were doing and really I should have stuck with our system. You live and learn.”
Byfield, who is likely to be able to call on the services of midfielder Monteiro for Saturday’s trip to Kings Langley and revealed Mukendi is back in training, was pleased by the midweek cup win.
“We played well. I went with a strong team and we took our chances. It’s important to boost confidence and we want a good run in the League Cup,” added the manager.”
Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Hertfordshire to face a Kings Langley side without a home win, Byfield revealed Coates will require an operation on his injured shoulder which will rule him out for a couple of months and Arjun Jung is a doubt with an abdominal strain. Marcel Simpson will be missing for personal reasons.
On the transfer front, Keenah Rosser (Boldmere St Michaels) and Danico Johnson (Bromsgrove Sporting) have departed but remain on dual registration and “very much part of the group”, but Donnell Benjamin (Coventry United) and Macauley Manning have left permanently.
Byfield said: “Players want game time – there’s no ill-feeling – so they move on. I am after a defender/midfielder and a young striker whilst other players already here such as young Zaqib Hussain, who has really impressed me in the last couple of games, will get their chance.”
