Gordon focused on cup campaign

Midfielder Sam Gordon insists Weltons lengthy County Cup campaign is a help rather than a hindrance.

Social head to Janneys Allstars on Sunday knowing that a victory will see them face the winners of Queen Bess and CW Golden Eagle on February the 1st, another Social fixture - against GE Millers - will need rearranging, with Socials volume of matches reaching mammoth proportions before the campaign reaches its conclusion.

As a glut of fixtures was one of the reasons cited by manager Alistair Taylor for a disappointing finale to the 2007-08 season, the suspicion might be that the club need not care too much whether they beat the Allstars or not.

But Gordon is having none of that. It seems any trophy is a welcome addition to the Welton cabinet - and with such a big squad to satisfy, the more games the better.

"This is not a distraction," he said.

“The County Cup is the biggest competition we are entered in.

"We want to win.

"We have a big squad, so we need a lot of games to keep everyone fit.

"This is an important time of the season. Injuries can happen at any time - which is why we need everyone to be ready when the big games come around.

"We also know there is a trophy at the end of it.

"Maybe the County Cup has not been considered as big as the Premier League or even the Ron Eaglen Cup in the past. But it is still a trophy, which is what Welton Sports and Social is striving for and this year we know we are good enough to win this cup.

"We are on the brink of the quarter-finals now, so there will be no messing about."

Will Carter and James Drabble are expected to be in the squad, The former having returned from a short break in the Lincolnshire Wolds with Cold and Flu symptoms, to a storm of contreversey over his comments in a radio interview suggesting he was unhappy at being dropped from the side for the Golden Eagle game 3 weeks ago.

Taylor is unlikely to give a public airing to his decision to omit Carter and Drabble from his starting X1 although it is has probably been pointed out to the pair that their manager actually made his decision in an attempt to bring the players back to their best form.

Carter's trusted adviser Al Sawyer has been desperately trying to dampen down the impact of his client's comments - which in itself suggests remaining at Social Park is the defender's preferred option.

But it is now clear the longer an impasse between the two parties remains, the more scope there will be for speculation and therefore further friction.

Even if he returns to last season's sparkling form, Carter will find it hard to dislodge Jaz Dhindsa and Ross Taylor from the Socials first-choice line-up.

Gordon, however, does not believe a distinction can be made between Taylor's best side and the rest.

"We have a lot of quality players," said Gordon.

"I would never say the players who have been left out on occasions are not as good as the others. Infact I would say quite the opposite sometimes.”

"The manager picks his team, and that is it. I have played most County Cup matches - it may be that some who were in the RE Cup game won't play on Sunday?

"The main thing is that whatever players have come into the team they have showed their character. No matter who the manager picks, Janneys know they will be taking on a very good team."

The Scunthorpe outfit should also be aware Social will not take them lightly.

"They may be in a lower league in Scunthorpe but we are aware of their record over the last couple of seasons and we know they should be in the Scunthorpe Premier Division."

"We cannot get drawn into thinking Janneys Allstars may be a good side or a bad one," said Gordon.

"The opposition will always want to play well against Welton S&SC."