Boardman rallies Crusaders ahead of difficult fixtures

Hungerford joint manager targets big performances against St Albans and Havant & Waterlooville.

Hungerford town joint manager Jon Boardman is relishing the opportunity to get back to winning ways when they host promotion chasing St Albans City on Saturday afternoon.

The Crusaders suffered a heavy 4-1 away defeat to Eastbourne Borough last weekend and Boardman is aiming to make it right when they welcome the fourth place side to Bulpit Lane.

Hungerford remain six points from the relegation zone and face some difficult fixtures including a trip to Havant & Waterlooville in the next few weeks, but Boardman is aiming for some valuable points.

“As a group, we prefer playing against teams that are at the top,” he said. “I know I always did as a player. It’s not going to be easy against those two teams as they’re having good seasons.

“We know that if we play like we can, like we did against Dartford and Hemel Hempstead away from home we can compete with anyone.” He added.

Although the joint manager is staying positive ahead of the crucial period, Boardman is aware that his side need to start games better than they did against Eastbourne.

He said: “We have to learn from it, we can’t let this happen again because when you concede goals early on like we did, the game sort of goes out the window and you’re always on the back foot.”

Boardman has admitted that his players’ attitude has been “first class” since he and Ian Herring took over as the side continue to fight for their National League South status.