SJR Worksop boss is staying positive

SJR Worksop boss Andrew Guest says he’s looking on the bright side despite the latest coronavirus announcement from the government leaving his side in limbo once again.
SJR boss Andrew Guest has urged his players to come back stronger.SJR boss Andrew Guest has urged his players to come back stronger.
SJR boss Andrew Guest has urged his players to come back stronger.

SJR haven’t played competitive football since late October and were due to re-start their league campaign against Rotherham-based outfit AFC Phoenix on December 5.

Plans are being made for localised fixtures to take place while the Central Midlands League come up with a solution for the rest of the season.

With Nottinghamshire being placed into Tier 3, travel between counties for games isn’t being encouraged, but Guest is staying positive.

SJR  have picked up eight points from their six matches this season.SJR  have picked up eight points from their six matches this season.
SJR have picked up eight points from their six matches this season.

“It’s too easy to get negative about things,” he said.

“At the minute, because of the restrictions, we can only play Retford, Harworth, Newark and Collingham. It’s not getting me disheartened but it’s just another problem we have to deal with. If we have to play behind closed doors, we’ll be fine.

“The last game before the second lockdown, I had loads of people messaging me asking if the game was still on. Every time there’s an announcement, there’s more and more confusion as to what people know they can and can’t do.

“At the minute, because of the restrictions, we can only play Retford, Harworth, Newark and Collingham.

“But sometimes you have to pick the positives out of a rubbish situation and run with them instead. When we got the announcement about the new lockdown, I told the lads they could either get worked up about it or use it as an opportunity to get fitter, come back and hopefully catch a few teams off guard.

“You can’t let stuff like this hinder you. We’re working all the time to improve training and things. Obviously with the virus happening, it’s stalling it but we’re working round it the best we can.

If coronavirus has challenged the club off the field, stepping up a division on it has brought about its own difficulties.

With two wins, two draws and two defeats from their opening six league games, Guest says he always knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, it’s just a matter of learning to come to terms with that.

“We’ve found the level a bigger jump up than we anticipated, to be honest,” he said.

“We held our own against Dinnington who are one of the better teams. We’ve had some decent results at Bentley and Collingham.

“It’s not been perfect, but we never expected it to be. We’re facing challenges we didn’t think we would have. But that’s the whole reason we joined this league because we wanted the challenge.

“We haven’t had the luck anywhere really this season. We lost Reece Twell before the season started, he’s not played at all this season and he’s our talisman. Tom Mullen had just started hitting form and you’re thinking things are looking up, and then you don’t play for four weeks.

“When I was in Sunday League, I only lost five games in four years and last season, we didn’t lose a game. I warned the last before the season that they were going to face more losses than they probably ever have.

“We had to prepare them for that. But then each win means that much more than winning 8-0 on a Sunday every week. I take losses bad, so I’ve had to get my head round it more. Our target was top half and to take some big scalps against the bigger teams in the league.

“We haven’t really played any of the big boys yet, other than Dinnington and on that day we got a crowd of 180 which shocked us.

“We’ve had three big crowds and that has financially boosted us massively. I think the lockdown has actually helped in that sense, because people can’t go and watch who they would usually go and watch.”