Little Common boss praises squad's togetherness, 'so far, so good' for Bexhill United

They may have lost their first league game of the season on Tuesday night, but Eldridge can’t speak highly enough of his squad. But he also commented on how demanding the fixture schedule is and the toll it is taking.

Eldridge, whose side take on Lancing tomorrow (Saturday) and Loxwood in the Senior Cup on Wednesday, said: “The games are continuing to come thick and fast but hopefully over the coming weeks we will welcome players back to the group to give us more options. The schedule has been demanding on the group physically with injuries we’ve had, but I can’t speak highly enough of the group with the attitude and togetherness they’ve shown.”

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And Eldridge was left frustrated with Tuesday night’s defeat to Newhaven. He said: “Tuesday’s game was frustrating and I felt for the group as they did everything I asked of them tactically.

"First half we were compact and the longer the half went on the more of the ball we had and scored a well worked goal at the end of the half.

“The turning point in the second half was the injury to our goalkeeper Matt, psychologically this had an effect on the team but credit to the group we kept on going and tried to be brave and pass the ball. It was hard to take the penalty in the final stages of the game, on another day we would have got a positive result.”

Bexhill United boss Ryan Light has said it’s ‘so far, so good’ for his side.

The Pirates have fiive wins in five in Division 1 of the SCFL.

He said: “I guess it’s ‘so far so good’ in terms of our start to the season with five straight wins from the first five games, scoring 14 and conceding two.

"There are things we can still improve on of course but on the whole it’s been a really good start. The players have worked extremely hard since we returned from the extended break In the summer, not just on their fitness but also opening their minds to play a slightly different way from previous seasons and the performances and results so far pay testament to that hard work.”

Light believes tomorrow’s game will be tough. He said: “I think Arundel on Saturday will provide our biggest test yet, they are a well organised side who always look to be up there challenging come the end of the season.

"Looking beyond Saturday we then entertain Wick at The Polegrove on Wednesday evening in the Sussex Senior cup and although promotion is our full focus this season, the Sussex Senior Cup is one we always like to do well in, especially in the early rounds with the potential of a plumb tie against the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Crawley, Eastbourne Borough or Hastings United only a couple of wins away."