Pat Cox has given Hayes & Yeading United’s attack a much needed mean streak ahead of their crunch relegation battle with Tonbridge tomorrow.
So said skipper Dean Inman this week, admitting the former Reading striker, named man of the match in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Concord Rangers, was a beast of a man he would rather play with than against.
That is quite a comment coming from an accomplished young centre-back like Inman, who warned Angels’ defenders they were in for a devil of a night trying to contain their newly arrived goal threat.
He said: “Pat Cox has come in and been a breath of fresh air. He is just one of those horrible strikers no one wants to play against. I would not want to have to mark him at all.
“He says it himself he is a wrong’ un, but that is what you need in this league to get through and I’m glad we have got a fighter up there now.”
Incredibly, Cox is the 57th player to don the United shirt this season as ex-Liverpool man Babb has fought to turn the tide on what was a run of nine successive defeats prior to Thursday’s 0-0 draw at Bishop Stortford.
Saturday’s win – the first ironically since victory over Tonbridge on December 7 – came from the first unchanged line-up since August 15.
But far from complaining about the high turnover, skipper Inman claims such a shake-up has been necessary.
Now with Cox’s presence up front and a defence which has not conceded from open play in over six hours of football, he claims there is a new-found steel about the men of Kingfield which can haul them to safety, starting with the visit to the Angels tomorrow.
“Tonbridge is a massive game given the context of where both clubs are and it will be as big a physical battle as the one with Concord, which was a game three weeks ago we would not have won,” said Inman.
“The victory was because of how far we have come and the little bit of self-belief instilled in us.
“It is the gaffer’s first season as a manager and he brought in players who could play football in the first opening weeks of the season, but when it got to the fight and the gritty stage in November where the pitches were turning, those same players weren’t cutting it.
“The gaffer realised that and he has brought players in accordingly. We are up for the fight now and that is not just one or two, it is the whole 16 players who are buying into it.”
Following the trip to Kent, Hayes & Yeading are at home to Sutton United on Tuesday. They have no match on Saturday because scheduled opponents Gosport Borough are playing in the FA Trophy final.
