ATTACKING midfielder Ben Lane will be handed a ‘go for goals’ mission after returning to Pershore Town to boost their survival fight.
Manager Les Jones pinpointed a failure to take their chances as the Plums lost 1-0 at Shifnal Town last weekend to slip back into the bottom two in the West Midlands League Premier Division.
However, Lane, who left Pershore in the summer, has re-signed from Malvern Town and will be ready to face sixth-placed visitors Wednesfield on Saturday.
“Ben will give us another goal threat,” said Jones. “That’s what we need. We’re grateful to Malvern for letting him come to us.
“He will give us a few more options in the final third.
“We have had Ryan Pugh out with a dislocated shoulder so we’ve been lacking that little bit extra to turn chances into goals.
“I’m happy with the rest of the pitch, with the options we’ve got. We’re defensively solid and in midfield we’re strong.”
Last Saturday’s fixture at Shifnal certainly felt like a missed opportunity for Pershore. A victory would have dragged the Shropshire side to within a point of Jones’ men.
Despite having Andy Pawson sent off for two bookings, Pershore still had enough chances to have won handsomely.
“We were desperately unlucky, we were bitterly disappointed not to come away with the three points,” said Jones. “If we had won 4-1 or 5-1, it would have been a fair reflection of the performance,
“We had enough chances but their keeper was man of the match. We made a goalkeeping error and it ended up with their winner. Even with ten men, we had the chances but we couldn’t get the ball into the net.”
While Jones felt Pershore were unfortunate not to improve an away record which has brought them just four points on their travels, they will look to continue an impressive recent home run when they face Wednesfield.
Pershore have won four of their last five at the Community Stadium, but Jones says Wednesfield will be a huge test.
“Wednesfield are pushing for the top three, top four and they are a strong side,” he added. “It’ll be a tough game but we feel we’re competitive against anybody in this league.”
Pawson is likely to miss out while Dane Aldington and Joe Endacott are injury doubts, but Ben Jackson and Joel Hobbs come back into contention.