DESPITE their success this season, there have not been too many National League North matches – if any – that Warrington Town have gone into as strong favourites.
In the eyes of many, however, that tag will be appropriate on Saturday as they welcome the division’s bottom club Bishop’s Stortford to Cantilever Park.
> Work begins on Cantilever Park's new stand
It is easy to see why, with relegation seemingly inevitable for the Blues, who have just 17 points to their name and have lost 12 of their last 13 league fixtures.
However, Town boss Mark Beesley insists their visitors will be treated with the utmost respect as they look to complete the double over their Hertfordshire-based visitors having won the reverse fixture 4-1 in November.
And he pointed to their impressive recent FA Trophy run, which included an eye-catching 6-1 hammering of National League high-flyers Aldershot Town, as a sign that they are not to be underestimated.
“It’s unfortunate for them and obviously, we don’t know the full circumstances behind it – the travel for them is clearly difficult,” he said following Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brackley Town, the first of three consecutive home fixtures.
“The way we’re looking at it is they beat Aldershot 6-1 not too long ago, so they have got quality.
“When we went down there as well, they played some really good stuff.
“We’ll respect them and treat them no differently to how we treated Brackley last week, or any other team.
“It’s important that we’re on our game because if we’re not, we’ve seen already that we can quickly get found out.”
Town will be back at Cantilever Park just three days after Saturday’s game for a midweek clash with Southport as their schedule gets more hectic with the campaign approaching its end.
And Beesley admits the importance of getting the balance between giving his small squad the right amount of rest and doing the correct amount of preparation for any given game right is paramount.
“This week is important,” he said.
“As the season is going on, these three-game weeks are getting tougher but that’s part of being at this level.
“The reason they’re tough is the quality of the opposition – no matter who you’re playing, every team is a good team.
“We’ve got to have a little look at the schedule this week – Tuesday will be a light session then we’ll have a full preparation for the following week on Thursday.”
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