JERSEY BULLS manager Gary Freeman has said his players will “embrace the challenge” as they welcome a team that are breathing down their necks in the Premier Division South of the Combined Counties League.
Abbey Rangers are just one place below and two points behind their hosts, in third and fourth respectively, as they had finished last season. They lost to Croydon Athletic last week, bringing to an end a 12-match unbeaten run that started in mid-August.
With Farnham Town running away with things at the top of the table with 13 wins from 13, both Bulls and Abbey’s best hope of promotion is staying there or thereabouts for one of four play-off places.
Abbey bring with them to Springfield a new-look team but one that, Gary Freeman believes, will be equally as hard to break down as the one they faced in March which ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw.
“It’s going to be a difficult game but we know if we perform correctly we can get a result,” said Freeman.
“I expect them to be very good in the game management side of things. They will be solid and the game will be tight. Any team that isn’t beaten for 11 or 12 games in a row deserves a fair bit of respect. They have ambitions to be in that play-off position as well.
“But you can see from their results, they are not blowing anyone away, so they’re likely to be defensively solid, very compact and, maybe, not too free flowing.
“But we’ve got some experience now coming into these sort of games and we just have to be patient.”
A bumper crowd is expected at Springfield tomorrow, Bulls’ last home match of the year, with the fan zone putting on a Christmas party and tickets selling fast.
Turnstiles open at 1pm for supporters to don a Christmas jumper and enjoy the fan zone festivities. A vintage food truck will be offering winter treats and an outside bar selling mulled wine adding to the merriment provided by Acapella Jersey singing festive tunes from 2pm. A Santa’s grotto for young fans is also opening at 2pm, collecting unwrapped toys provided by the Brighter Future charity.
“You can see how much the fans engage in the community and do something a bit different. It should be a good atmosphere down at the game and a really good turnout,” added Freeman. “Over the last month or so the players have really embraced the support they have been getting and hopefully we can build on that.”
In squad news, James Carr is unavailable while goalkeeper Euan Van Der Vliet is also a doubt with a groin injury.
Jersey Bulls squad (provisional): Euan Van Der Vliet, Pierce Roche, Robbie Scott, Frank Tobin, Will Byers, James Querée, Luke Campbell, Harry Curtis, Ben Le Rougetel, Kamen Nafkha, Joe Kilshaw, Jonny Le Quesne, Luke Watson, Francis Lekimamati, Miguel Carvalho, Fraser Barlow, Lorne Bickley
CCFL Premier Division South
P W D L F A Diff Pts
Farnham Town 13 13 0 0 53 6 47 39
Knaphill 15 11 3 1 41 16 25 36
Jersey Bulls 16 11 2 3 36 13 23 35
Abbey Rangers 16 10 3 3 28 19 9 33
Balham 17 10 0 7 26 27 -1 30
Redhill 14 9 1 4 39 18 21 28
AFC Croydon Athletic 16 8 3 5 38 29 9 27
Alton 18 8 2 8 36 32 4 26
Fleet Town 17 8 1 8 33 28 5 25
Tadley Calleva 13 8 0 5 22 18 4 24
Tooting & Mitcham United 16 7 3 6 31 33 -2 24
Guildford City 19 7 2 10 32 51 -19 23
Horley Town 16 5 6 5 30 26 4 21
Camberley Town 17 5 4 8 27 35 -8 19
Sandhurst Town 18 5 3 10 35 47 -12 18
Spelthorne Sports 18 4 6 8 20 35 -15 18
Cobham 15 4 4 7 23 27 -4 16
Epsom & Ewell 16 3 1 12 22 39 -17 10
Sheerwater 18 2 1 15 21 62 -41 7
Colliers Wood United 18 1 3 14 15 47 -32 6
