NPL Division One East
Dave Frecklington says Frickley Athletic are embroiled in a relegation battle.
Frickley have only scored 15 times in the league this season and the 2-0 defeat at local rivals Pontefract Collieries under-lined the continuing problems.
Now after one win in seven games, Frecklington admits dark clouds are hanging over Westfield Lane.
“I said that last week, yeah (we’re in) a relegation battle,” Frecklington told Non League Yorkshire.
“When you have the worst goals for column in the league you’re not going to win games are you.
“That’s proven again (against Pontefract) as we have drawn another blank in a tight game when we have had the best chance to go in front.
“(The relegation battle situation won’t change) until we can get some players who can score goals.
“I’m as honest as they come and I told them last week that until we start putting our chances away we are not going to win games.
“We have to be realistic and that’s where we’re at.
“We haven’t got the best finances in the world.
“We do what we can do and if you keep losing players every week, there’s not a big pot of players to choose from.
“We can’t have a squad of 30.
“(The players who have left), they’ve left for better offers and that’s Non League Football and we have a group of people who give you everything every week and sometimes that’s not good enough.
“It is not for a lack of trying, not for a lack of hard effort or endeavour.
“We have everything going against us at the moment.
“You can either say ‘this ain’t for me’ and sack it off but that’s not my make-up.
“I’d rather scrap it out and fight it out but we need to find some quality at the top end of the pitch or get some luck.”
Frickley’s luck was summed up by the late withdrawal of goalkeeper Josh Chapman due to covid and the Boxing Day exit of defender Danny Burns to Worksop Town.
But Frickley’s bad fortune goes back more than a week.
“We haven’t been able to train because of covid and obviously the training facility is shut down,” he said.
“The pitch was waterlogged so we couldn’t do a lot on that and it would have ruined the pitch.
“We didn’t have enough numbers either.
“We had Nathan Whitehead, Brad Beatson, Joe West with covid and Burnsy has obviously left.
“He told us yesterday he is leaving.
“He would have played today.
“The goalkeeper (Josh Chapman) went down (with covid).
“Joe Stacey is injured, (Ben) Morris, our attacking wide-man is playing right-back, so we’re over the shop.
“(The team I had on paper on Monday) has changed quite a lot and that’s the way it is going at the moment.
“Until that change we haven’t really got a leg to stand on.
“It is constant chop and change.”
Frickley defended well against Pontefract but were fairly lifeless going forward and Frecklington agreed.
“The game sums us up really,” he said.
“I think we have competed well for large spells.
“The (first) goal is a changing point and it is a cross isn’t it.
“It is a cross and it has gone in the back of the net and that’s the story of our luck at the minute.
“I thought it was an even game and there was nothing between the two teams.
“Before (the first half) we missed a one-on-one and it is the story of our season we don’t look like we’re going to score.
“I didn’t think we would.
“I did this morning when we had a little training session, get together and had some pre-match food.
“We looked lively and I thought if we could get one on the counter…and we broke a few times and we had that chance and if we had got the first goal it would have been a different game.”