BEN WILKINSON is determined to play his part tonight in helping Chester address a worrying trait.
The Blues midfielder hopes he can contribute towards a victory at high-flying Stevenage Borough after admitting his team have conceded far too many goals during the early stages of their matches in recent weeks.
Wilkinson, the 22-year-old son of former England coach, Howard, is anxious to see his side turn things round and narrow the gap on sides immediately above them at the foot of the Blue Square Premier League table.
He said: “We were all obviously disappointed about our 3-1 defeat on Saturday at home to Altrincham because we thought it was a game we could have got three points from.
“With a number of home fixtures coming up we wanted to target three points and then get into positive points and close the gap on those clubs who are with us at the foot of the league table.
“We were always chasing the game after Altrincham scored their first goal, but that has been the same story for all of our games in recent weeks.
“Everybody knows that we just can’t afford to continue conceding early goals and giving ourselves an uphill task for the remainder of the match.
“There’s no hiding place at the moment and we haven’t had long to work on our mistakes ahead of tonight’s match.
“We’ve now got to show character and turn things round as soon as we can to start putting some points on the board.”
Wilkinson believes Chester face a tough test tonight against a Stevenage side that are currently second in the league table on the back of their 1-0 win at Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
He added: “Stevenage Borough looked a very good side when they beat us 1-0 at the Deva Stadium earlier this season.
“They looked very organised, were very hard to beat, and they were well drilled, so it’s going to be a difficult game, but it may also be what we need.
“We know everyone will be looking at the league table and thinking it will be a home banker for Stevenage, but that might relieve a bit of the pressure on us.
“Often, when your backs are up against the wall you can sometimes get a result.
“But we’ve conceded a lot of early goals all season and every one of the lads in the squad has been bitterly disappointed with that statistic.
“It was the same again on Saturday against Altrincham when we fell behind in the opening 25 minutes, so we all know we’ve got to try and turn things round.
“We’re not coming up with the right answers at the moment in trying to address our problems during the early stages of a game.
“I don’t think it’s a case of a lapse in concentration that is to blame for us trailing so early in games because we talk about the situation in the changing rooms before kick-off, but we’re just not keeping a cleansheet.
“We all know that we want to keep things tight for the first 10 or 15 minutes of any game, and then try and go on and score the first goal, so we’ve now got to start to address the situation.”
Meanwhile, City boss Jim Harvey confirmed that Neil Ashton and Michael Lea remain sidelined with groin injuries for tonight’s trip to Stevenage.
Harvey hopes that Rhys Meynell can recover from an ankle injury.
- Chester have been drawn at home to Fleetwood Town in the FA Trophy first round on Saturday, December 12.