MARK Owen says his Droitwich Spa side are in the frustrating position of having to bide their time playing catch-up in their West Midlands (Regional) League fixtures.
The Division One leaders have been the stand-out team in the league this season, but they are one of four sides on 30 points.
Having played two, in some cases three, games fewer than their title rivals, Owen believes the backlog will be a hindrance to the Saltmen, who had another game postponed last weekend when their home meeting with Bustleholme was called off.
“The disappointing thing is not having the opportunities to get points on the board with the weather in recent weeks,” he said.
“As a manager, you can only look at the number of games played and not the number of points. Having those games in hand puts pressure on us to accumulate points if anything.”
One of the teams locked in the title race are Wellington Amateurs, who will host Droitwich on Saturday (3pm) in a crucial encounter at the Fortis Stadium.
While the Spa boss views the fixture as an important one for the outcome of the season, he remains keen to treat the top-of-the-table clash with the same level of attention as any other game.
“There have been a few tough tests this season, the games in the FA Vase and some tricky ties in the league,” Owen said.
“Last year was a crazy game [against Wellington], there were eight goals and two red cards [in an 8-0 win for Droitwich] but I’m expecting nothing of the same this weekend.
“Looking at the weather forecast it’s going to be on, and we’ll prepare as we always do. I think if you win at your closest rivals then it does send out a signal to the rest of the league.
“It’s a boring way to look to look at it, but it still is only one game, so we’ve got to make sure that we treat the other fixtures the same.”
Owen will have a fully-fit squad available to him for the trip to the Telford hosts.
