FC Halifax Town: Wild seeking upturn in home form

FC Halifax Town boss Pete Wild says he is determined to turn around his side’s home form, starting against Eastleigh on Saturday.
FC Halifax Town v Torquay at The MBI Shay Stadium. Town manager Pete Wild.FC Halifax Town v Torquay at The MBI Shay Stadium. Town manager Pete Wild.
FC Halifax Town v Torquay at The MBI Shay Stadium. Town manager Pete Wild.

The Shaymen are without a win in five at The Shay, and have won just once in their last seven home outings having won their first four matches on their own patch.

”There’s no shying away from the fact that our home form hasn’t been great,” said Wild, “but we’ve got to address it, stand up to it, we don’t want to hide away from things like that.

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“We’re looking to try and put things right against Eastleigh. I think teams approach us differently at home, and we’ve got to find a way to nullify that.”

Town have struggled to find the net consistently in recent weeks, with Saturday’s blank at Woking their fourth in the last seven matches.

“We need to get support to Tobi (Sho-Silva) better,” said Wild. “I thought Tobi was excellent on Saturday in keeping the ball high up the pitch, but we didn’t get enough support to him quickly enough to affect him when he got hold of the ball.
“It’s something we’ve been working on, something we need to get better at. It was one of our problems earlier in the season, and we addressed it.”But we just seem to have dropped off a little bit now. But it’s something that’s key on our list this week to address.”

When asked if Town’s lack of goals can be remedied by the current squad or whether it needs new faces, Wild said: “Bit of both. I think we’ve got players in the building that were excellent at the start of the season in scoring goals.

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“Everybody goes through peaks and troughs, and we’ve got to believe in the players we’ve got.

“If we can add a player or two to help us score a few more goals, that’s why we’ve brought Jack (Redshaw) in, then great.

“That gives us competition for places which can only be good for the squad.”

Defender Nathan Clarke will miss the game as he starts his three-game suspension following the rejection of Halifax’s appeal over his dismissal at Woking.

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“I’m really disappointed it’s not been rescinded, I still don’t agree with the decision but we have to move on now,” said Wild.

The Town boss said Clarke suffered a slight calf strain in the Woking game but was confident he would have been fit enough to play on Saturday.

Wild rates injured duo Redshaw and Liam McAlinden as 50-50 for Saturday, but their inclusion depends on whether they train on Thursday.
Jamie Allen is expected to be in contention after being away on international duty with Montserrat.

On whether there will be any ins and outs before Saturday’s game, Wild said: “It’s still up for discussion in terms of incomings, but probably not. In terms of outgoings, fingers crossed yes.”E

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astleigh are 16th in the National League, with seven wins from their first 20 games, but Wild is under no illusions that his Halifax side will need to be on their game.

“They’re a good side, but you can’t take anybody lightly in this league. If you’re off the boil by half a per cent, you get done,” he said.

“We’ve been on the end of that, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for them and we can compete against their big threats.

“I know they’re a big side and they pose threats. When I’ve been watching other teams I’ve always thought Eastleigh have looked decent, and they always seem to score goals.

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“They’ve got goal threats within their team and it’s something we’re going to have to be ready for.”

Halifax then travel to Harrogate, who have beaten them twice already this season, on Tuesday, with both Town’s upcoming opponents finishing in the National League play-offs last term.

“It’s a tough couple of games, but if we can get over that 40-point mark this week then we’ve had a really good first-half of the season, and I’ll be really pleased,” said Wild.

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