Pinchbeck United boss Lewis Thorogood is expecting Saturday’s opponents Gresley Rovers to be one of the teams to beat in this season’s Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North.
One of many new teams in the league this year, Thorogood – who has experience of playing the Derbyshire side as manager of Spalding United at Step Four – rates Gresley as one of the top five teams in the UCL, on paper at least.
However, he’s adamant that his new-look Knights will travel with no fear and is hopeful of “doing a job” on a Rovers side that lost their league opener at Heanor Town.
“This (Gresley) is a side that I’m expecting to do very well,” said Thorogood. “On paper, I think they’re one of the four or five teams you’d expect to be at the top.
“We’ve had them watched and it’s clear that they are powerful and very well drilled.
“In truth, this year’s UCL is looking more like a Step Four league in terms of quality.
“It’s going to be a hard place for everyone to go and will provide us with another tough test after Skegness last Saturday.
“We’ll prepare for them accordingly and see if we can go there and do a job on them. It’s an old cliché, but it’s very much one game at a time for us. Every game will be tough, but we feel we’re up to the challenge.”
The Knights will be boosted by the return of key defender Neal Spafford, who will replace the suspended Cameron Baldock-Smith in the squad.
Thorogood hopes to have everybody else available as Pinchbeck chase their first win of the season.
