Walton writes off start to Ryman Division One North campaign

Ilford boss Colin Walton is adamant his side can pull clear of danger after undertaking a big clear-out of players and writing off the start of the Ryman Division One North campaign.

The 3-1 defeat at Potters Bar Town on Saturday saw the Foxes lose their fourth league game in succession and left them with just one point from five outings ahead of last night’s (Wednesday) visit of Chatham Town.

But the manager has responded by overhauling his squad and insists the season really begins when his men return to action against Ware on September 24.

Walton said: “I’m confident we’ll lift ourselves clear of the bottom of the table.

“We’ve now had a bit of a clear-out and offloaded seven players who I didn’t feel were really good enough.

“So as far as I’m concerned we’re starting again and I am hoping for a big improvement when we get back to action the weekend after next.

“We plan to take advantage of the weekend off and regroup.

“I’m still looking for wide players and central midfielders. It’s the midfield that has failed to produce so far this season.

“We’ve struggled to score goals but I don’t want to be critical of my strikers when we’ve failed to provide any decent service for them.”

Ineligible

Ilford’s hopes of finding their first win of the campaign last weekend suffered a big dent when it was discovered that three players – Jorge Sambu, David Banjo and Vendel Nunes – were ineligible to face Potters Bar.

Sambu had scored twice in an FA Cup preliminary-round defeat by tenants Waltham Forest last week, while Nunes had netted in the first meeting between the two sides.

But paperwork problems meant that Walton was forced to work without them.

He said: “Our preparations for the game were hit when we learned there was a registration problem with three players and that they weren’t eligible for the league game.

“It was very unfortunate because it was something we only discovered late on and I had to move players around to compensate.

“We ended up having to put defender AJ Olatunbosun up front and even though he scored for us if left us a bit weak at the back.

“All the goals we conceded can be attributed to individual errors and, although we didn’t play well, we played well enough to get something.”