MICHAEL Clegg has singled new signing James Butler out for praise following a fine start to life at Warrington Rylands.
Having joined from Mickleover in the summer, the giant centre-half has been ever-present at the heart of the Blues defence this season.
Going forward, Clegg is looking forward to seeing more from Butler as he prepares to take his side to Whitby Town on Saturday, kick off 3pm.
“Your new centre-half signings don’t often get the plaudits – it’s normally the forward lads who are a bit more pleasing on the eye – but we’re delighted Buts is with us,” he said.
“He’s played every minute of every game so far and he’s still a pretty young centre-half. He’s got a lot of footballing years ahead of him.
“For me, it’s the way he just goes and attacks and wins the first contacts in both boxes when you’re under pressure, and how far he actually clears the ball.
“He’s a great player – he’s a lad I’ve admired for a couple of years so I’m really happy to have him here.”
The trip to the Yorkshire coast sees two of the Northern Premier League Premier Division’s strong starters go head-to-head.
Clegg’s men sit fifth in the table, one point behind their second-placed hosts going into the weekend.
The Rylands boss is hopeful the team’s free midweek will allow several injuries to clear up after Matt Regan, Ben Hough and Edy Maieco were all forced off during the FA Cup victory over Stockton Town on Saturday.
James Baillie scored the only goal of the game at Gorsey Lane as Blues set up a second qualifying round trip to FC United of Manchester, which takes place on Saturday, September 16.
“Dean Furman has had a good rest as he had been struggling,” Clegg said.
“We need to sort Houghy out, Edy has come off and hopefully we’ll get Chinedu Uche back soon as well.
“Joe Piggott is going to be a couple of weeks but other than that, we’ll be good to go whatever XI we put out at Whitby.
“They’re a really strong side with a really good manager that I get on with, so we’re looking forward to it for sure.”
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