Northern League: Sunderland West End boss sets consistency aim
There is a busy weekend lying in wait across the Ebac Northern League.
Sunderland West End manager Joe Walton is keen to find consistency from his side as they look to push towards the play-off places in the Northern League’s second tier.
After a slow start to their first season under the former FA Vase winner, West End have started to find some form and head into Saturday’s visit to FC Hartlepool looking to rack up a fourth win in their last five league games. Should they achieve that aim and results elsewhere go their way, Walton’s side will move into the top eight of the table and could find themselves just four points shy of the play-off spots.
However, there are many challenges facing West End and their fellow Division Two sides as they look to cope with the demands of a long and testing season across a number of competitions.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to third placed FC Hartlepool, Walton told The Echo: “There have been a lot of positives and it’s the same with most teams in the league where they don’t have the biggest squads and there are very different budgets. In this league, everyone is in the same situation where you’re trying to have a good eleven and then build the squad but when injuries and suspensions hit, and you’re having to fit players into gaps, it can show and it’s shown in games we’ve lost.
“But then it’s vice-versa, when everyone is there, we win so with the size of the squad there are going to be ups and downs so we just have to deal with it as best we can. Our first few games here, we beat a few of the top teams but then we’ve been on the end of it too so we need to find consistency because anybody can beat anybody in this league.”
Northern League Division Two fixtures: AFC Newbiggin v Esh Winning, Darlington Town v Alnwick Town, Durham United v Ryton & Crawcrook Albion, FC Hartlepool v Sunderland West End, Grangetown Boys Club v Seaham Red Star, Tow Law Town v Sunderland RCA, Chester-le-Street Town v Boldon CA
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