As he prepares to take charge of his first Blyth Spartans game since his appointment as manager on Tuesday Tom Wade has issued a rallying call to everyone connected with the club. Ilkeston are the visitors to Croft Park tomorrow and sit comfortably in mid-table after achieving promotion to the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League last season and Wade wants to see his side make it difficult for the Robins, with a little help from the Green Army.
He said “It’s a great honour for me to be in charge of my club. I followed Spartans home and away when I was younger and looked up to the likes of Eddie Alder and Brian Slane, this is a club with a proud history and I am absolutely buzzing for Saturday. It really can’t come quick enough. The supporters have been superb this season and have backed the lads through some tough times, all I can ask is they continue to back us and both myself and the team will look to repay that faith and backing with results on the pitch.”
The game comes on the back of a 3-1 win at Kendal Town, a fixture that saw Wade take charge of Spartans in the absence of then manager Paddy Atkinson and the former Harrogate manager wants to see his side take heart and confidence from that win in Cumbria. A goal from Stephen Turnbull and a brace from the in-form Lee Mason has given Wade a belief that his side can kick on for the rest of the season.
He said “We have a young and ambitious squad here and obviously we know there have been lows this season but what we have now is a fully fit squad who are eager to do well. We have a fitness session on Thursday and for the first time in a long time have everybody fit. The win over Kendal should be a start point for us and something to build on. Everyone will have a role to play before the end of the season so it’s all hand to the pumps if we want to improve our league position and recent performances.”
Hot on the heels of the visit of Ilkeston comes another game against Kendal Town as they travel to Croft Park for the return fixture. With two home games in the space of four days Wade feels it’s an ideal opportunity to get off to a positive start and ensure that some momentum is built ahead of the run in to the end of the season. Spartans endured a rough time in their last home fixture losing heavily against AFC Fylde but Wade wants to put that behind them and begin making the most of home comforts.
He said “Croft Park is massive for us, it’s our home and it needs to be our fortress. We need the place to be intimidating for teams to play at with the reputation it has and we have seen the affect it can have at times this season. The players are massively up for these games and we will have them fully prepared. We have some tough away games coming up so we need to make the most of the home games and that’s something we intend on doing”.