Pritch seeks a stronger Witton (From Northwich Guardian)

Witton Albion manager Brian Pritchard will pick a more settled side in remaining friendly matches

3:32pm Friday 3rd August 2012 in Sport By Andrew Simpson, Senior Sports Writer

WITTON boss Brian Pritchard hopes to pick a more consistent starting line-up for his team’s remaining pre-season friendly matches.

Albion’s preparations for a return to the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League top flight have been disrupted by the unavailability of f f f amiliar faces in recent weeks.

They visitors will be closer to full strength at Ramsbottom United tomorrow, Saturday, kick off 3pm.

“I’ve not known a summer like it,” said Pritchard.

“It feels like we’ve used about a million different players with so many being on holiday or suffering from injury or illness.

“That’s made things a bit messy if I’m honest; what I need now is to have more continuity in the next couple of weeks to make sure we’re ready for the first league game.”

Stopper Paul Booth returns after a holiday this weekend, but Matt Cross (calf) and Joe Shaw (ankle) are definitely out injured.

Mathew Wood (ankle) and Josh Glover sat out Tuesday’s 4-2 defeat at Trafford, Witton’s first in pre-season so far, but are hoping to play a part at the Riverside Stadium.

Trialist Rory Fallon will be given another chance to impress.

However Carl Frost, Chris Gahgan and Liam Newman are likely to feature tonight, Friday, for Albion’s reserves against their Middlewich counterparts.

Pritchard said: “One or two are still lacking match practice so are short on sharpness at this stage.

“We just didn’t get going at all in the second half in midweek, so deservedly lost the game.

“I want us to be stronger after half time from now on.”