Saracens come to the result on the back of a heavy 4-0 defeat to Brimscombe & Thrupp in the Supplementary Cup, although manager Betteridge downplayed the negative effects of the result, instead seeing it as an opportunity for squad rotation.
“To be honest the Brimscombe result isn’t one we’ve gotten hung up on, we made quite a few changes and were able to give minutes to some players that needed them.”
It’s safe to say Saracens attention may not be entirely on this match-up however, with a crucial final league match against top-of-the table Studley, knowing a win could result in the club climbing above Pershore Town into the final play-off position.
This leaves The Sarries in a difficult position going into the match, with tomorrow’s opponents in Bishop’s Cleeve having already secured the Hellenic Premier Division title and their season.
With the Hellenic League 1 sides still competing in the competition despite their league seasons still underway, this has led to backlash for the league’s scheduling, with Betteridge amongst the contingent unhappy with the calendar.
“The way the league have decided to structure the season run in has not been great in my opinion, to have our final league game four weeks after our penultimate game is not right, so we have had to use these cup games to keep the players ticking over whilst trying to be competitive, but still keep our focus on the Studley game.”
They carry quite a few threats, it won’t be a case of just our back 5 being on tip of their games, we will need to defend well as a team but at the same time make sure we ask them questions
Dobbins will obviously be important for the run in, he’s done great for us this season having stepped up from the county league but it will also come down to the other lads around him to make sure they are creating chances whether for him or others.
We have a 2 or 3 long term injuries which won’t have cleared for tomorrow so we will go with what we have available and I’m sure those boys will give a good account of themselves
