TT PREVIEW

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

ON A TIGHTROPE

Whilst the Maidstone game gave us some hope of the Gulls regalvanising themselves this season, the AFC Totton loss beat those hopes down and told us all that “we were being silly and that nothing had changed”. Indeed the line-up didn’t change either on Tuesday, which was puzzling. Yes we’ve all been scratching our heads at Jimmy Ball’s tinkering, but after a tough encounter in the wind and the rain at Plainmoor, making changes would have made sense… In the end, Tuesday night was a depressing evening where United could not piece together any attacking play, they looked uncertain defensively and one of our most experienced players jumped in two footed and gathered up another suspension…grim stuff all-round. This leaves the increasingly forlorn looking Jimmy Ball on a managerial tightrope and boy does he know it.

THE LINE-UP

Matt Worthington and Kieran Jenkins’ collision on Tuesday has left the full back with a leg fracture by the sounds of it, so there definitely won’t be an unchanged line-up on Saturday. 3-5-2 made sense against Maidstone (and much less sense against Totton), but it could well be binned for the visit to Walton & Hersham. Hill is likely to move into the left back role, Jake Wannell will keep his place before his impending suspension, whilst there’s mixed news on other injuries, as Sonny Everton remains out of contention, but Callum Morton could return. I can imagine Dom Bernard coming back in at right back and Harry Shield starting in midfield, whilst Jimmy could rotate one or two wingers back into the XI. It’s extremely hard to predict at the moment.

HARRY SHIELD

There’s very little positive to say about this squad at this time…Toby Savin made some strong stops mid-week and is looking more comfortable at the back, and upfront Deon Moore does still look a threat. Our best player in recent times however is the TUST funded Harry Shield. Shield looks energized and motivated, plenty of commitment in defence and at the other end delivering dangerous crosses, overall he’s putting more experienced players to shame. We desperately need others stepping up in order for positive results to come, their under-pressure manager needs it more than ever.

THE OPPOSITION

Walton & Hersham appointed Ruben Gaspar as manager in September after the sacking of Kevin James, and his task looks a tough one as the newly promoted Swans sit 23rd in the league with only 8 points from 13 games, scoring a league lowest 10 goals so far. There have been some signs of improvement with wins over Braintree & AFC Totton earlier this month, but they have lost the last two to Horsham & high-flying Salisbury. A confident United side would absolutely fancy their chances here, but after Tuesday night it’s hard to feel very optimistic about how this will pan out! A victory wouldn’t be enough to take the heat off Jimmy, but it would at least provide some positivity in what’s been a tough season to digest.