AFC Fylde's welcome break offers club captain a chance to return from injury

The Coasters’ deputy manager says the side has greatly missed elder statesmen Pond and David Perkins in recent games.

Chadwick has seen his side concede equalisers deep into stoppage time in two of their last three National League North games; at home to Bradford Park Avenue on Tuesday and at Leamington a week earlier.

Pond continues to nurse a groin problem, while midfielder Perkins has now completed a three-match suspension following his red card at Curzon Ashton, where Fylde suffered their only league defeat so far.

Chadwick said: “It will be massive to have the experience of Pondy and Perks back.

“I think we missed that leadership and bit of knowhow, someone to put their foot on it and take the sting out of the game at the right time.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence we’ve conceded late goals in two games when they haven’t been on the pitch.

“They are important players for us but we have other good players and we have to see games out better.

“No game this weekend will do us good. We’ve been without Perks for three games, Pondy has a slight niggle, the gaffer’s been off (Bentley underwent heart surgery on Tuesday) and we’ve had one or two issues around Jack Sampson and Reagan Ogle.

“So we’ve had a fair few missing over the last four or five games, and so to come through with the points tally we have is good.”

Fylde stand second in the table, three points behind Gloucester City with two games in hand. That situation won’t change over the weekend, when none of the top three are in action.

The Coasters’ only league game before Christmas is at Hereford a week tomorrow, though they could then face two ties in the FA Trophy before visiting Chorley on Boxing Day.

In what has inevitably been a disrupted season– this is Fylde’s third Saturday off out of four – Chadwick is satisfied with the start they have made after relegation.

He said: “We’re up near the top, which is where we expect to be, so it’s still been a really good start for us.

“Some of the performances and the chances we’ve created have been excellent, but we can’t give goals away like we are.

“We had passages of play against Bradford which weren’t up to our usual standard, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

“We said it would be an open game on Tuesday and that proved to be the case –it was almost basketball in terms of end-to-end play.

“We got ahead and there wasn’t much threat to our goal but we found a way to lose possession and concede an equaliser at the death for a second time in a week.”

There were definitely positives too for Chadwick, not least Blackpool-born striker Kurt Willoughby’s first league goal of the season.

“We know Kurt will score at this level,” he added. “He’s done it before and we have full confidence in him.

“He scored at Hyde in the FA Cp but to come in and score was a bonus which will do him the world of good.

“From a coaching perspective, it was good to see one full-back crossing for the other to finish (for Luke Conlan’s goal which made it 3-2). That was really pleasing but we had poor bits too.

“We can’t concede three at home, and as well as Bradford played, we had them on the ropes and didn’t finish them off.”

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