Woking manager Alan Dowson arrives at Huish Park this weekend hoping the FA Trophy can turn around his side’s poor run of form.
The Cards have lost five of their last seven National League matches and scored just once in their last three, if you don’t include a Surrey County Cup win over Isthmian League Westfield in the week.
Having made an impressive start to their first season as a full-time club, including wins over Chesterfield, Notts County and Dagenham & Redbridge driven by the form of prolific ex-Yeovil man Tahvon Campbell, things have taken a turn for the worst.
But, Dowson believes that things will change, speaking after the 2-0 defeat at home to Boreham Wood last weekend, he said: “We’ve got to believe that it will turn, we’ll keep getting balls in dangerous areas.
“We’re sitting nicely in 14th in our first year in full-time football, everyone knows we’ve got injuries, we haven’t got a big enough squad.
“The club was successful when it was a part-time team, but it’s done nowt for the past 20 years, had three or four relegations, been in Conference South for four years, so we have to rebuild.
“That’s football, I have been in this position before and I know for a fact we’ll turn it round, if I didn’t think we could I would walk away.”
The form of Campbell has been a high point for Woking. The former Glover has 13 goals in 18 appearances this season, putting him level with Bromley’s Michael Cheek as the second-highest scorer in the division going in to the weekend.
There was a brace for his strike partner Inih Effiong in the midweek but I’m not sure even the most hopeful Woking fan will get too hopeful about scoring against a side who represent a borough of the same town.
If you haven’t listened yet, don’t miss Ben’s chat with David Richardson, Non-League Paper reporter and Woking supporter, on the latest podcast – listen here.
FROM THE MANAGER
Speaking following last weekend’s defeat to Boreham Wood, Woking manager Alan Dowson said he hoped they could repeat last season’s form in the FA Trophy when they beat high-flying Sutton United and Torquay United on their way to the semi-finals.
He told the club’s YouTube channel: “The Trophy draw was not very kind of us last season either, we had to beat some top teams to get to the semi-finals and had a good run in that competition and hopefully we will again.
“I conscious the Christmas period is coming round again with (local rivals) Aldershot coming up twice and they have picked up which is great because you want to play them when they’ve picked up.
“It’ll be an exciting Christmas for us, we’ve got some games which are winnable so we’ve just got to make sure we win them!”
TEAM NEWS
Former Yeovil loanee Jamar Loza will miss the opportunity to face one of his old sides through suspension this weekend.
The winger, who had a five-game spell at Huish Park from Norwich City in 2015, was red carded for kicking out at a Solihull Moors player a couple of weeks ago.
Woking made a number of changes for last weekend’s home defeat to high-flying Boreham Wood.
Captain Josh Casey, fellow defender Joe McNerney and striker Inih Effiong were all dropped to the bench, albeit the 5-3-2 formation remained and it ended in another defeat.
McNerney and Effiong did return for the midweek county cup success when Effiong was paired alongside young Bristol City striker Louis Britton, who arrived on a month’s loan at the start of the month.
Britton was snapped up at Ashton Gate after a prolific season for Mangotsfield United, scoring 15 times in 2013 matches in the 2018-19 season.
Striker George Oakley is still out having suffered a broken leg in October.
A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS
Tahvon Campbell has already been mentioned in this preview.
The then-West Brom youngster had two fairly forgettable spells at the club in 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
He managed a goal in each spell and that was about it to be honest.
Fellow frontman Jamar Loza is another link between the clubs. He played five times on loan from Norwich City in 2015 and returned for his third spell at Woking last season.
Rohan Ince, who made two Yeovil Town appearances in a two-month stint on loan from Chelsea in 2012, arrived from Maidenhead in the summer and is a regular in the Cards’ midfield.
In the Glovers’ squad, the injured Joe Quigley had two loan spells at Kingfield whilst an AFC Bournemouth player in the 2015-16 season.
However, these three are far from the only players with a foot in both camps, a few others include:
- Josh Neufville
- Jake Gray
- Kieran Murtagh
- Nathan Ralph
- Kevin Betsy
- Steve Thompson
- Matt Hayfield
- Chris Giles
- Warren Patmore
- Colin Fielder
- Kevan Brown
- Robbie Carroll
- Richard Nugent
- Andy Clement
- Dave Piper
- Steve Stott
- Tom White
- Shaun Donnellan
- Jamie Pitman
- Luke Oliver
There are probably more. If you think of any, let us know and we’ll add them to the list.