Feet on ground at Worthing FC – despite four league wins out of four for new bosses
It’s four wins in four league games and a place in the play-off zone for Worthing – but the person least likely to get carried away by the run will be boss Adam Hinshelwood.
He and assistant Jon Meeney are delighted the Rebels have not dropped a single National League South point since they took charge last month.
But Hinshelwood is all too aware that only 14 of 46 league games have been played and there’s plenty of hard graft ahead. The latest win came on Saturday as Hampton and Richmond were beaten 3-0, with Brad Dolaghan, Teddy Jenks and Joel Colbran all on the scoresheet and keeper Josh Jeffries making some vital saves at the other end.
That left Worthing seventh – they’re 11 points behind leaders Hornchurch – with another two home games ahead of them in the coming week, both against higher-placed sides. Hemel Hempstead, in third, visit on Saturday and AFC Totton, fourth in their first season after promotion, follow on Tuesday.
Hinshelwood expects stiff tests but is delighted by the progress his squad is making.
He told the Herald: “We’re seeing an improvement in our play and it was nice to get a first clean sheet since we took over.
"We had a lapse in our concentration for a spell and Josh made a couple of outstanding saves in that time. But overall I felt we deserved to win comfortably – we created a lot of chances."
He was pleased to see the goals shared around as Dolaghan poached one from close range, Jenks profited from a more intense pressing game that Meeney has worked on in training and Colbran again showed his value as an occasional scorer.
The Rebels have been hit by a double injury setback. Sam Beard came off against Hampton with a knee injury and is awaiting scan results, while Bailey Smith – injured at Chesham – has been confirmed as having a torn hamstring.
Hinshelwood last Friday signed promising young Cheltenham forward Tom King on loan – initially until January – and said he was excited to work with him. The manager added: “We’d still like to add one or two more where we can.”
See Hinshelwood talk all things Worthing FC in our latest Sussex non-league podcast – in the video player above