“Ernie – Under the hat”, our pre-match interview with Sheppey United Manager Ernie Batten.
With there being a midweek game, have you had chance to train this week?
Yes on Thursday, both Goalkeepers and a few of the lads who were subs or not involved on Tuesday night came along.
We saw new Goalkeeper Adam Highsted in action on Tuesday night, is Jordan injured?
No, we wanted another Goalkeeper to create competition for places, and because we don’t have a reserves any more, to cover any absences like injuries.
Forward Luke Harvey also started on Tuesday night, is he available tomorrow?
He played really well but no, we can’t cup tie him. He is on dual registration with Faversham Town. He missed a lot of pre-season and is trying to gain match fitness but we will check his availability game by game and see how he gets on at Faversham and us really.
Why has King left the club?
He has been out of the game a long time, we haven’t got a reserve team for him to play in and it was going to take too long for him to get up to speed.
You changed the formation against Deal, was it tactical or making the most of who was available?
A little bit of both really, we tried 3 at the back but it hasn’t worked out as we would have liked so we have switched back to 4 at the back for stability and it worked well at Deal.
Was Deal a point gained or two dropped?
It was a good point but having played so well it was disappointing not to get all 3 points, I was very pleased with the performance!
Who is missing for tomorrow’s game against Hastings United?
Rob Saunders – Hamstring – he is having a fitness test today but I’m very doubtful, you will find out tomorrow.
Tom Montgomery has work commitments.
Everyone else is available including Hicham Akhazzan after his achilles strain.
What do you expect from Hastings tomorrow?
It will be extremely tough, I went and watched Hastings on Monday night away at Carshalton and they were very good, definitely one of the best sides in the Bostik South, but it’s the FA Cup so anything can happen!
Thanks Ernie – good luck tomorrow!
Mike Wood
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