FC Halifax Town: Boss Wild expects new faces in time for trip to Ebbsfleet

Boss Pete Wild hopes to have at least two new players in time for FC Halifax Town's big kick-off at Ebbsfleet on Saturday (3pm).
Oldham v Halifax. Pete Wild. Photo: John BradleyOldham v Halifax. Pete Wild. Photo: John Bradley
Oldham v Halifax. Pete Wild. Photo: John Bradley

The Shaymen are still short of players at left-back and could do with reinforcements out wide and up-front.

Wild said he was expecting to make decisions yesterday on the trialists at the club who played in the 1-0 win at Oldham on Tuesday night, one of whom was former Accrington central midfielder Liam Nolan.

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Matty Brown missed the Oldham game due to a dead leg but Wild says "fingers crossed" the captain will be fit for Ebbsfleet, when the Town boss says his assistant manager will also be in place.

"That whets the appetite even more after Tuesday," Wild said on the start of the new season. "I just want to get going now, I want to see where we're at, and let's make a judgement after Saturday.

"As I said to the fans, be patient with me, let me get it right. Let's not just bring players through the door for bringing players through the door's sake.

"It's a long season, let's get it right. In the initial bit, let's be patient, and hopefully that will stand us in good stead as we go along."

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Winger Sanmi Odelusi played as a substitute for Town on Tuesday, and has been training with the club during pre-season.

"There's a few lads in and around us that have been training with us," said Wild. "There were a few trialists playing at Oldham.

"I want to be fair to everybody that's in the building, and hopefully going forward now, I can make some tough decisions."

Wild says he won't be tied to the 4-2-3-1 formation he deployed against his former club.

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"We like to play different systems but that system certainly suits us," he said.

"It's a system that's worked for me before. But I wouldn't say I'm just 4-2-3-1 and that's me."

The Town boss says he will also be flexible in his approach in games.

"It'll depend who we're playing," he said. "If we're allowed to impose ourselves, we will do.

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"If we feel like we may have to be more of a counter-attacking team depending on who we're playing, we will.

"I don't want to be one-dimensional, in and out of possession. I want to be a team that's got many facets to it."

Wild says the squad aren't too far away in terms of being up to speed fitness-wise.

He said: "I think so. I think we're where we can be. We probably could be another 10 per cent on, but what you're going to get from me is no excuses.

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"We are where we are, that's life, let's just get on with it."

And the Town boss is also pleased with the tactical understanding of his side.

"I thought you saw a bit of that on Tuesday," he said. "There's some fine tuning in two or three areas but it was a good starter for 10."

Ebbsfleet finished just one place outside the National League play-offs last season, and have signed 10 new players this summer.

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They were unbeaten in pre-season, including victories over Charlton and Brighton. Their budget has been reduced this season, but they boosted their squad recently with the addition of striker Josh Umerah, who scored six goals from 16 starts for Boreham Wood last season.

"They were up there last season, they've had a massive change-over of players," said Wild.

"We've done our analysis to make sure we're in the best position come Saturday."

Wild is confident about Town's chances this season, but says any success will take time.

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"Be patient, but be optimistic," he said. "I suppose that adds up to cautious optimism.

"Let's be optimistic, but it's a long season, a gruelling season, there's a lot of young lads in there and we need to balance that off with what we're going to face week in, week out."

On his first week at the club, the Town boss said: "I've loved it. It's been manic, not a lot of sleep, but that's life, and when you're coming into these environments, you do so because everything's not rosy in the garden.

"You're coming in because things haven't gone the way they should have gone, and that's life, let's get on with it."