After securing their first ever Southern League title on Saturday, the Peacocks will look to keep their mammoth unbeaten run going until the end of the season starting with the visit of Slimbridge to the Viridor Stadium tomorrow evening (10th April), kick-off 7.45pm.
The weekend win over Evesham United was Town’s 29th successive league game without defeat and with five more fixtures to play they will be also be eyeing up the possibility of reaching both the 100 point milestone and 100 goals scored as they seek to end their remarkable campaign with a flourish. The Swans have had a difficult season, at present lying in 21st place seven points above bottom side Bishops Cleeve but still not safe from the threat of relegation. They have won just once in their last dozen games, a home win over Kidlington, and have also conceded the highest number of goals in the division. Their current plight is in contrast to their top ten position when Town visited Thornhill Park in October, a late Pierce Mitchell equaliser salvaging a point for his side.
Mitchell misses out on the return after retiring with a hamstring pull he suffered against Evesham while Keith Emmerson is very doubtful with the after-effects of his dislocated shoulder from Saturday. Exeter City loanee Joel Randall is set to come back into contention and start.
After the euphoria of the weekend, coach Rob Dray remarked:” It isn’t easy putting words to the emotion that came with Saturday and it still feels a bit surreal on Monday afternoon, but I’m sure when things settle down in the next few weeks after several nights out we will realise as a club what we have achieved and the accolades that come with it. However we are now focused on tomorrow night’s game. Even though we have won the title, the mentality of this group when they cross the white line is such that they will want to win, to get to 100 points, go the rest of season unbeaten or whatever the next target is. The next five games will enable us to rest a few weary bones and allow some to get game time so for us there will be no foot off the accelerator as Leigh, Meaks and I want to win every game!!”
After more rain today and with more forecast tomorrow, the pitch will be assessed in the morning.