DROITWICH Spa joint-boss Wayne Oliver says his side will need to be at the top of their game if they wish to get a positive result this weekend against Alvis Sporting Club.
The Saltmen travel to last season’s invincible Midland League Division Two champions on Saturday on the back of a frustrating 3-3 draw at home to Feckenham over the weekend.
Despite taking an early 2-0 lead on Saturday thanks to goals from Jamie Smith and Haydn Morris, Feckenham clawed their way back to level terms after 30 minutes through Ben Cox and Jordan Adams.
Nick Seabourne then nosed Spa ahead on the stroke of half-time but Cox netted again after 71 minutes to make it 3-3.
And Spa were lucky not to lose right at the death when Jack Brimmell saw his 88th-minute goal disallowed for offside.
Oliver was not there to see the Saltmen miss the opportunity to move to the summit of the table and said they need to be on top form to beat a side which has not lost a league game since May 2015.
He said: “From what I heard from Mark [Owen] we was very lucky to get a point so with that respect, it’s disappointing to not have won at home.
“Since we hammered Feckenham in the second game of the season, they have improved greatly and it was always going to be a tough ask but again inconsistency is a problem.
“I think what’s more of a problem though is we have not got a settled side. We don’t know which position each player can play best in so we’re having to re-juggle the pack which is obviously not a good thing for the lads.
“We are going to have to put a real shift in on Saturday against Alvis who will certainly be out for revenge after we beat them in the final of the Presidents Cup last season.
“We go into the game as second-favourites but we will see what happens.”
Oliver has a full strength squad to pick from for the trip to Coventry and is expecting talisman Mike Seeley to return soon from his long-term ankle injury which he picked up at the start of the season.
“Mike is very close to returning and hopefully if he makes it through training, we have him pencilled in for our county cup game at Welland at the end of the month.”
