MARK Reed wants more consistency from 1874 Northwich and says further depth in defence is being sought.
The Greens head coach feels Chris Herbert’s men can match any side when they produce their ‘A’ game but acknowledges work needs to continue in producing that for more regular minutes in the Midland League Premier Division.
“We’ve definitely got enough quality to beat any team on our day,” said Reed, following the weekend’s 5-1 home success against second-from-bottom Highgate United and ahead of Saturday’s trip to another struggling side, Studley.
“It’s just that we can be inconsistent, either from game to game or through a game.
“We don’t tend to put two good 45 minutes together, we always have a spell in the middle where we look a bit shaky but we’ll work on that at training and we’ll work on that with players we get in and keep trying to drive forward.”
He knows that competition for places can help and with three players – Dennis Mulville, Henry McNulty and Jack Woolley - coming off the bench and performing well against Highgate, as well as all scoring goals, the selection headaches are rising.
Dale Jennings and Jacson Coppack are also back in the fold after a week’s absence through work commitments.
Only striker Mike Hayes remains on the sidelines for a further few weeks.
“To have the subs come on and make such a huge impact is really pleasing, especially to bring young lads in who have been really patient,” said Reed.
“We’ve got real competition for places now and that’s what me, the gaffer and Steve (Burr, assistant manager) want – 20 players at training every week hungry to get in that 16.
“It’s a long season and we need players. On Saturday we needed that extra energy and quality from those who came off the bench so it was really useful to us and hopefully they will get more chances as the season goes on.”
He added: “To even get to 16/17 players (for Saturday) it’s going to be difficult, but that’s what we want and we’ve got a set of lads who are prepared to work for places and that’s really important.
“We’ve got a good dressing room, we’ve got a good work ethic between us all and we’ve just got to maintain that.”
Mulville’s work off the bench, including an assist to go with the 17-year-old’s first goal for the club, caught the eye at the weekend and he has been on Reed’s radar for quite a while.
“He’s a lad I got from school, after seeing him play a few times for school,” said Reed, a PE and art teacher as well as head of department at Neston High School in Wirral.
“I’ve seen his quality, I’ve seen what a clever player he is. He’s not just a big lad who plays up front, he can play several different positions and I just believed in him and got him in.
“He’s got a lot sharper and worked hard. He’s been working on his fitness.
“He’s been realising the pace of the game is different and that he’s got to move the ball quickly and when he came on he was excellent.
“He was holding the ball up well, he was linking things up and he got a goal and an assist as he came on.
“So I’m made up for him personally and he’s been really patient and waited for his time to get in and a lot of the subs have had to be but that’s football and hopefully he can kick on and he’s got a good future ahead of him.”
Reed also acknowledged that for seventh-placed 1874 to maintain their promotion push they could do with some more defensive options.
“I think we’ll be looking to add a bit of depth defensively,” he said.
“We need to keep more clean sheets. We know that as a club and that’s one of our aims.
“We’ve just got to keep momentum going now.
“We need to keep on picking up points and being around the play-offs places and start beating teams that are around us. And just get that consistency going.”
