Reading Town receive boost ahead of FA Vase clash
James Walker-Roberts • Published 19 Jan 2012 13:00
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READING Town manager Mark Bartley believes the timely return of centre-back Alex Salmon will be a massive help for his side ahead of their FA Vase clash against Larkhall this Saturday (3pm ko).
Salmon has been a notable absence from the Town backline recently due to an ankle injury sustained last year.
However, he returned to training last week and is now in contention to start alongside skipper Danny Lingwood at the centre of defence for the visit of the Bath side.
"It will be a huge boost if we can have Alex back in the side this weekend," Bartley told the Chronicle. "Alex and Danny are the best centre-back pairing in the league and we have suffered when we haven't had them together."
Salmon's return is even more timely after Ardley United scored three goals from set pieces at Scours Lane last weekend to emerge as 4-1 winners in the Hellenic Premier.
"We didn't defend set pieces properly and their centre-back scored a hat-trick from floated balls into the box," added Bartley.
"It's something that we have worked on in training and it's been good to have a week off to look at a few things."
As well as there being a place in the last 16 up for grabs on Saturday, there is also the financial incentive of £2,000 for the winners, with Town already amassing close to £4,000 from the competition.
Larkhall currently sit third in the Toolstation Western Football League Premier Division and won their last outing 4-0 in the league.
"They deserve a lot of respect," said Bartley. "They won their league last year and are going well again this time around, so they will be coming into the game full of confidence.
"But I'm confident that we can beat any side on our day."
Bartley will be able to call on brother Michael for the clash on Saturday and also welcomes back Graham Lewis and Chris Hatton, while Phillip John is set to start on the bench after his suspension for a non-payment when he joined on loan was lifted.
Town started their FA Vase adventure back in October with a 3-1 win against Ardley but they were unable to repeat the feat last weekend as the league leaders came from behind to condemn Reading to their heaviest loss of the season.
Marcus Richardson gave the hosts the lead, only for Ardley centre-back Ben Thomas to reply with a first-half hat-trick.
Although Town had chances to get back into the match, Ryan Brooks converted a penalty to secure victory for the visitors.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 19 Jan 12
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