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Newcastle Blue Star v FC Halifax Town: Vince wants another six wins
TOWN boss Jim Vince is looking for his side to win six of their remaining eight matches to secure a top five finish.
The players and management have come under fire this week after a hugely disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Woodley Sports.
But they are still in the thick of the race for the Unibond One North play offs and can reinforce their credentials when they face rivals Newcastle Blue Star at Kingston Park tomorrow (3.0).
"I said a week or so ago that we are now in a mini league and we went into it looking at seven wins out of 10 to have a shout," he said.
"We have a 50 per cent record after the first two of the 10 and now we focus on Newcastle tomorrow."
Vince travelled to the north east on Wednesday night to watch Blue Star beat Ossett Albion 4-2 - a result that took them to within a point of the Shaymen.
It not only gave him a opportunity to run the rule over Town's opponents for tomorrow and Good Friday, but also to see the notorious Kingston Park pitch for himself.
In contrast to the artificial surface Town played on at Durham on their last trip to the north east, Newcastle's pitch is not good. And last month the club issued a statement admitting they were 'frustrated and bewildered' by the number of postponements they had suffered.
"I was impressed by Newcastle," said Vince. "They did well to come from behind to win, but Ossett were good too.
"The pitch did not make any difference to Newcastle because they won 4-2.
"It is not the greatest surface, it was bobbly and it cut up a bit but that is not our concern.
"We have to make sure we go into the game with the right mental approach."
Vince is hoping to be able to include Junior Brown in his squad for tomorrow's game. The winger has missed the last two matches with a sore hamstring.
Cavell Coo looks unlikely to figure after Vince revealed that the defender's hamstring injury was "worse than first feared".
The Town boss also confirmed that Paul Collins was out for the season with the knee injury he suffered at Durham City.
"Paul has been added to the ever increasing list of players who have suffered damage to their cruciates this season," he said.
With bodies thin on the ground, Vince is continuing his efforts to add to his squad before next week's transfer deadline.
"There could be some new faces before next week," he said. "We have been working extremely hard to bring players in for the last six or seven weeks, but it is proving very difficult to do."
Vince will not reveal his starting line-up until closer to kick off, but the side that finished Saturday's game against Woodley has more chance of being on the field at kick off tomorrow.
And that means veterans Paul Evans and Nigel Jemson, who appeared at half time, could get the nod while second half substitute Mark Hotte could be in line for his full debut.
"The first half last week was atrocious," said Vince. “It was simply not acceptable.”
Halifax Town (from): Kennedy, Adams, Hinsley, Sutton, Barras, Hotte, Allen, Baker, Evans, Barnes, Peers, J Brown, Jemson, D Brown, Stott, Senior.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
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Cloudy
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