South Shields aim to replicate last season's glory days ahead for hectic run of games

Joint manager Graham Fenton admits South Shields will make full use of their squad heading into a hectic run of four games in seven days.
Graham Fenton.Graham Fenton.
Graham Fenton.

The Mariners are at home to Ossett Town tonight as they continue their promotion bid in the Evo-Stik North Division.

They are hopeful the game will go ahead after clearing the last remaining snow from the Mariners Park pitch yesterday.

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Over the next week, they also face trips to Cleethorpes Town (Thursday), Radcliffe (Saturday) and Atherton Collieries (Monday).

With such a busy schedule ahead of them, Fenton acknowledges the importance of ensuring the workload is shared.

He said: “Like we did towards the end of last season, we’re going to have to utilise the squad in the weeks ahead because we’ve got a busy schedule.

“This week, we’re scheduled to play tonight, Thursday, Saturday and Monday.

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“You’d be doing well to ask anyone to play four sets of 90 minutes in such a short period of time.

“The reason you have a really strong squad is for situations like this.

“We did that to good effect last season, when everyone played a part in a tremendous run to the end of the campaign.

“We’ll have to do that again this season.”

Shields are hoping to welcome back Gavin Cogdon after he recovered from a hamstring injury, but Anthony Callaghan will miss the rest of the campaign with a back complaint.

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Kick-off at Mariners Park tonight is at 7.45pm, with admission – to be paid at the turnstiles – costing £8 for adults, £6 for students and over-65s, and £2 for under-16s.

The Mariners won the reverse fixture 2-0.