"What we've never lacked is commitment and effort," says Millington as Town head to Woking in search of overdue win

Halifax boss Chris Millington has praised the attitude of his players in the face of adversity ahead of their game at Woking on Tuesday night.
Chris MillingtonChris Millington
Chris Millington

The Shaymen go into the game without a win in their last six after being defeated 3-2 by Eastleigh on Saturday.

Woking, meanwhile, won for the first time in four games on Saturday, beating Fylde 2-0.

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Four of the last six games between the teams have been decided by the odd goal, and Millington is expecting another tight match on Tuesday.

"I thought we did brilliantly there at the back end of last season, I thought we really went toe-to-toe with them," Millington said.

"It's one of those places, not dissimilar to Boreham Wood, where it's often decided on fine margins.

"It's those little bits that will decide who's successful, so you've got to stay in the game, you've got to work hard and limit the opposition to as few moments as you can, and make the most of the positive moments you get."

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Millington feels the effort from his team isn't being rewarded with results at the moment, with Town winning just once in their last ten matches.

"Everybody's working incredibly hard and we're just not getting the rub of the green," he said.

"When you tot up the challenges we're facing at the moment, with players out, you've got a whole load of good footballers who aren't able to help us because they're injured.

"We've then got players coming back from injury who we're having to rely too much on. Flo Hoti shouldn't be playing 90 minutes, Max Wright shouldn't have played the amount of minutes he played, we've got Kane Thomson-Sommers on his way back from long-term injury, Tom Wilson's come in and made his debut because of Jo Cummings' injury.

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"So we can't get any real consistency to our starting 11, which is undermining our ability to perform consistently.

"That's a frustration but we should have won on Saturday if they hadn't been given the two goals they were.

"When teams are given a leg up in that way, it's hard enough without the other adversity we're having to face at the moment."

The Town boss says his players' attitude can't be faulted.

"I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the lads we've got in the building this year because I'm stood there at 85, 90 minutes on Saturday and the level of commitment and effort to try and get something out of the game was phenomenal," he said.

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"They've done that in every game so far this season. I'm not saying we've always played well, but what we've never lacked is commitment and effort to try and be better than the opposition.

"I think we're very fortunate with the characters we've got in the building, and to be playing the way they are and committing the way they are to try and get results in the face of injuries, lack of match time and some very difficult refereeing decisions, they're remarkable and I'm just really proud of them."

On whether Florent Hoti be fit enough to start on Tuesday, Millington said: "We'll have a look and see. Him and Kane Thomson-Sommers acquitted themselves well and contributed to some really positive play so hopefully they're available."

Defender Adam Senior is available after serving a three-game ban, and fellow centre-back Tom Wilson is expected to recover after limping off with cramp against Eastleigh.

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"He's not played for a while so he's cramped up. I'm sure he'll be fine for Tuesday," Millington said.

Defender Jo Cummings is out with damage to knee ligaments, and Millington says the club is assessing the seriousness of the injury.

Jamie Cooke has an abductor strain and will be out for at least another week, while Luke Summerfield has a neck injury.

"Nothing serious," Millington said, "but it will take a bit of work and potentially a few days to ease off."

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Rob Harker is still expected to be out for six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his foot, and on fellow striker Aaron Cosgrave, who has ankle ligament damage, Millington said: "He's recovering well so we'll see how he gets on in the next few days."