Bognor Regis Town bosses want their stars to be smiling assassins
Putting a big smile of the faces of Bognor Regis Town players is helping manager Danny Hollands get the best out of his rejuvenated outfit.
That’s the verdict of assistant manager Ben Kneller as the resurgent Rocks look to secure a fourth win on the spin when they host Harrow Borough in an Isthmian South Central division clash at Nyewood Lane on Saturday.
The bid comes on the back of a 1-0 victory at South Park Reigate last week, bringing to five the matches in which Bognor are unbeaten since Hollands took charge. It sees Hollands’ side in 11th place in the table having pulled further away from the threat of relegation.
One of the players who is flourishing is versatile Kaya Tshaka, who grabbed the goal in the win at Whitehall Lane and was also handed the man-of-the-match bubbly.
Tshaka, brought in on loan from Gosport Borough in February, has impressed Kneller with his desire and application. And the No.2 told Rocks Radio: “Kaya’s an honest lad, we had him at Gosport and he will give you what he’s got.
"He was tenacious enough to get in the box and tap one in. I think it would have been a penalty had he not put it in, with the keeper grappling with Callum Barlow. Kaya has played at left back before we came in, he has dropped in at centre of midfield. He really enjoys it -- he is back smiling!”
Assessing the gritty performance last time out, Kneller added: “We prepare the same way every time. Tuesday and Thursday (training sessions) were good coming on the back of the win at home (against Met Police) but we were a bit lax in the first half – it’s a difficult place to come and it was a little bit windy.
“It was frustrating, very bitty. The goal came from their massive mistake; we didn’t create any clear-cut chances but when you look at it, we have had it pretty easy in the past two games when we were 3-0 up and coasted for the last 10, 15 minutes.
"Here we went to a back five late on and made some changes and from a character side of things it was nice to see some of the lads stand up and be counted. We showed some togetherness. As a group we will take three wins on the bounce and three clean sheets.
"The group here were heavily underachieving previously and we can’t put that on previous staff, the lads have to be accountable – there is a spring in a few steps. We are in a situation where we need to keep being positive – and we need to take things as they come.
“If we can end the season unbeaten then that will be great but you don’t always get what you deserve. South Park might have thought that they deserved a point against us but fortunately for us that wasn’t the case."
The level of support the Rocks can count on has pleased the management team and Kneller says that he hopes for a decent crowd against Harrow Borough before the Rocks go over the border to Hampshire to take on Fareham on Easter Monday.
He added: “You have to take every game as it comes and Harrow will be a difficult game but we would urge everyone to come out and hopefully we can get another big gate and if we can get 700 or 800 it will be really appreciated and then we face Fareham.”