THE clash between Taree and Sawtell at Sawtell tomorrow will be the Coastal Premier League football competition's version of Young Talent Time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Both clubs have had their struggles in the first year of the CPL. Both in the main field young and inexperienced teams and Taree coach Ben Sedlen said this shapes as a frenzied contest.
The Wildcats will get a couple of seasoned performers back this weekend with Kyle Brady and Justin Atkins both available. Sedlen was expected to make the call on Reglis Hajdiaj at training last night. He is battling a hamstring problem sustained in the midweek clash against Port Saints on July 29 and then aggravated in last weekend's loss to Boambee.
"I gave him the night off training on Tuesday and he's like most young blokes, he recovers pretty quickly,'' coach Ben Sedlen said.
"Reglis will want to play, but if there's any worry about his hammy than he can sit this week out.''
However, Canan O'Donnell will miss one more game because of suspension after he received a red card in the midweek game against Port Saints.
Taree goes into the clash on the back of three consecutive losses. Sawtell's had just one more win than Taree this season.
Despite the results Sedlen insists morale is positive in the squad.
"We had a talk about it at training this week. We can see we're headed in the right direction - the results may not reflect it, but we are improving,'' he said.
"But a few wins would be nice.''
RELATED:
Sedlen concedes playing out the full 90 minutes is testing his team. He said the game last week against fourth placed Boambee was typical.
"Boambee won their competition last year so they're a strong side. We conceded three goals in about 15 minutes, but we matched them for the rest of the game,'' he said.
"Those lapses are proving costly for us and that's something we've been working on.''
Sedlen said getting the same side on the field week-in-week out has also been a problem for Taree because of injuries, suspension and players unavailable. This hasn't helped work combinations for what is a relatively new team.
"I've said it before - and I'm not using this as an excuse - but we only came together a fortnight before the competition started so this year was always going to be tough. We knew that from the start,'' Sedlen added.
The Wildcats have a three year licence in the CPL, as have all clubs in the competition.
"We have a three year plan. By the end of that time we will be competitive,'' Sedlen said.
