Ryan keen on return to action

Tim Ryan says Buxton's players can't wait to get back on the pitch following their enforced '˜winter break'.
Tim RyanTim Ryan
Tim Ryan

The Bucks haven’t played since February 20 with most of the country’s fixture schedule having been wiped out thanks to snow-covered pitches ever since.

But with a home game against Nantwich Town on the horizon this weekend, caretaker manager Ryan and his players are raring to go.

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He said: “We’ve had a lot of training sessions and the lads’ fitness levels are really good so we are just desperate to get back out there now.

“We initially were struggling to get venues to train on as quite a few of the local 3G pitches weren’t being cleared of snow due to the effect it apparently has on the little rubber balls that are in the surface, but on Saturday we ended up in a local sportshall in Doncaster which is where most of us are based.

“So it’s been frustrating but everybody is in the same boat and the main thing is that we’ve been able to keep the players fit as not every club will have been able to do that.

“As things stand, I think we can get to the end of the season with no more than about three games a week, Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday for example, but any more postponements and I think we could be looking at throwing the odd Thursday game in as we’ve done in the past, or even extending the season by a week as the league did not so long ago.

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“In some ways the break has helped as we’ve got injured players recovering and that’s given us really high numbers in training and a good squad depth will be important given the number of games left.”

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Nantwich were beaten 2-0 at home by Matlock Town on Tuesday night and sit just four points above Buxton in 13th place.

That game will be followed by a home clash with Stourbridge, who beat Buxton 2-1 in Ryan’s only league game in charge so far back on February 17.

Ryan said: “Both are tough games. Nantwich lost on Tuesday but at least they’ve managed to get a game in, whilst Stourbridge beat us a couple of weeks ago but we gave a good account of ourselves that day. This will be an entirely clean slate though as far as I’m concerned.

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“When it comes to our league position, we’re still very much looking upwards and you never know what a good run could do, particularly if any of those higher up hit a rough patch with all the games being played.

“We’re not used to being in this kind of position (18th) but players are not only playing for pride but also to keep themselves in the reckoning for next season too if they want to be here, so there is still plenty to play for.”

Meanwhile, Ryan says he has had no further word with regard to the permanent manager situation at the Silverlands following the departure of Martin McIntosh last month.