DESPITE their blistering start to the new Midland League Division Two campaign, Droitwich Spa joint-boss Wayne Oliver says the players are finding it difficult to adapt to their new style of play.
After the first month of fixtures the Saltmen find themselves third in the table with ten points from four games following their 5-0 victory over Earlswood Town on Saturday at the King George Playing Fields.
A hat-trick from Nick Seabourne and goals from James Lemon and Matthew Hunt secured the win for Spa who are yet to be defeated in the league.
Oliver and fellow joint-boss Mark Owen were given a further boost over the weekend when midfield maestro Graham Pardoe played 20 minutes of the second half after recovering from an ankle injury he picked up in the opening day 1-1 draw with Coton Green.
Positive start aside, Oliver told the Standard the squad is finding it difficult to break sides down and adapting to a new style of play.
“Sides are changing their shape because they’ve clocked on to how we played our football last season,” he said.
“The players are finding it tough to break teams down and struggling with the new playing style – it’s a double edged sword.
“However, Saturday was a comfortable game and I was really delighted to have walked away with a clean sheet and three points.
“In places we could have done better for longer but the performance was more of what we expected.
“And seeing Graham get some game time on Saturday is a massive boost for us. Having him back fit and playing with his experience and positional stance is huge.”
Spa will be looking to extend their unbeaten league run to five games on Saturday when they travel to Hampton.
Ahead of the trip, Oliver will be without Mike Seeley (ankle) while James Halsall, who picked up a knee injury in the 3-2 Bank Holiday Monday victory over local rivals Fairfield Villa, is doubtful.
“Hampton is a tough place to go and it’s one of those grounds where you just want to turn up, get the job done and then go home,” Oliver added.
“They’ve got a lot of their old players back which they lost last year so we can’t take anything for granted.
“We’ve had a very good start to the season but we got to build on it. We will be taking each game on merit and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.”
