Little Common boss looking forward to Eastbourne Town test

Little Common Football Club player-manager Russell Eldridge has described the local derby away to Eastbourne Town today (Saturday) as ‘a game to be excited about’.
Action from November's reverse fixture between Little Common and Eastbourne Town. Picture courtesy Joe KnightAction from November's reverse fixture between Little Common and Eastbourne Town. Picture courtesy Joe Knight
Action from November's reverse fixture between Little Common and Eastbourne Town. Picture courtesy Joe Knight

The Commoners will make the short trip to the Saffrons for a Southern Combination League Premier Division fourth-from-top versus fourth-from-bottom encounter.

Eldridge said: “I think it’s a game to be excited about. We’re going to be playing on a decent surface, which I think will help us, and in front of a good crowd.

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See also: * Little Common fightback not quite enough* Little Common ‘have belief’ heading into daunting run* Little Common end four-month winless run* Bexhill United boss: Pressure is off us in battle for promotion places“Although we expect ourselves to do well, the expectation will be on them to win the game. We’ll prepare ourselves and we’ll have our game plan. If we carry that out to the best of our ability, we’ll have a chance.

“We’ll have a positive outlook. They’ve got a very strong forward line and a lot of pace. We’ve got to be wary of that, but we’ve also got to carry a threat ourselves.

“When we’ve played against some of the top teams, our game plan has been pretty good in terms of how we’ve set out and how we’ve carried that out.

“We’ve shown on numerous occasions that we’re able to compete or give teams a good game, but that doesn’t always result in you picking up the points you want or deserve.”

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Sam Ellis is unavailable for a match which will kick-off at 3pm, but Eldridge hopes to have an otherwise pretty full squad to select from.

Common lost 3-2 at home to third-placed Horsham YMCA last weekend, but the three teams below in the table were also beaten.

“It’s nice if things around you go your way, but all we can do is try to take care of our own business,” added Eldridge. “What goes on around us we can’t control.

“It’s still in our own hands, we still know where we want to get to and the target we’re looking for. We want to get to that as soon as possible to try and make it as stress-free an end to the season as possible.

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“We’re in a run of three games which are difficult, but we’ve got that belief that we’ll be trying to get something out of the games.

“This Saturday will be no different. We know that every point’s vital. Every game counts and every game that goes by is another opportunity.”

Southern Combination League Premier Division bottom six (played-points): 15 Loxwood 30-27 (-26 goal difference), 16 Langney Wanderers 30-27 (-28), 17 LITTLE COMMON 30-23 (-25), 18 Shoreham 30-21 (-38), 19 Arundel 30-21 (-41), 20 Eastbourne United AFC 29-18 (-44).