Strength in depth shows how far we’ve come: Ray (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

8:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in Sport By Matt Plummer

FC CLACTON manager Ray Turner believes his side’s new-found strength in depth is a measure of their progress.

The Seasiders are still bottom of the Thurlow Nunn League premier division table and slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Stanway Rovers on Saturday.

However, they have made rapid improvements in terms of the quality of their performances, the depth of their squad and competition for places.

And Turner says there would be no better time to prove it than in Saturday’s home match against Godmanchester Rovers.

The Seasiders manager has dark memories of the away game against the Cambridgeshire side, on October 27.

Sixteen players called off in the 24 hours before kick-off and Clacton ended up being thumped 6-0.

“That was a real low point,” said Turner.

“I had so many players unavailable and was scratching around to get a team together.

“Thankfully, it’s so different now.

“All the players are committed and we’ve come a long way since then.

“I’ve got a 19-man squad and we had (goalkeeper) Ed Wootten and four outfield substitutes on the bench on Saturday.

“They’re all players who feel they should be playing and, on their day, are very capable of playing."

For the full story, see this week's Gazette.

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