Newmarket Town boss back his players to be a different proposition for Mildenhall Town in derby clash

Player-manager Michael Shinn is hopeful that his Newmarket Town side will provide a much sterner test to Mildenhall Town during Saturday’s derby clash between the two rivals (3pm).

When the teams met at the Tristel Stadium in November for the reverse fixture, the hosting Jockeys were second best for much of the contest, which they ended up losing 3-1.

Back then Shinn’s team were depleted by injury and the result extended their winless run in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division to five matches.

However, with the fitness concerns easing and some new signings on-board, Newmarket will make the short journey down the A11 in a much brighter mood.

They are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions, five of which they have won.

Shinn said: “In the game at our place we had to absorb a lot of pressure and it was actually me that made a couple of errors to give them the goals.

“But I would say we’re in a much better place now compared to where we were then.

“We’ve got the new signings in, the young players have got more experience and everyone is buying into what we’re trying to do.

“Since I’ve been at Newmarket, it was probably the worst game between the two, especially for the fans.

“They’re normally really competitive fixtures that are a bit crash, bang, wallop – but with where we were at, we sat back and it didn’t really take off.

“Back then our players were still learning what we wanted but we want to be an expansive team. We don’t want to sit in and nick a goal.

“Hopefully we’re in a better place to supply our front players and they’ll be able to offer a lot more.”

Newmarket head into the encounter on the back of a 1-1 draw at home against a Brantham Athletic side that are without a win from their last 16 games in all competitions.

And while Shinn was disappointed with the dropped points, he was pleased to see the frustration within his group, something that he believes highlights how far they have come in recent weeks.

“Everybody looked at the table and no doubt felt that it was a game we should have won, but Brantham are trying to win every game,” added Shinn.

“There was no way they were going to roll over for us, even though they are on a bad run of form.

“The result wasn’t what we wanted but what was pleasing was the fact that it felt like a defeat to the players. That shows the standards we’ve set and what we expect as a group.

“It was one of those games. In this league now there is no side that guarantees you six points a season and you have to earn your wins.

“We wanted to win obviously but earlier in the season we’d have lost that game. I’m not going to complain too much because the lads have done really well recently.”

One player who will not feature against Mildenhall and for the foreseeable future is Joe Robinson, who has undergone surgery on his cruciate knee ligament injury.

Shinn said: “It’s really good that he’s got in so quickly.

“He has a bit of an understanding of the road ahead of him and what it might look like.

“As a club – and myself – we’ll do everything that we can to help support him through this.”

* The club has set up a JustGiving page to help Robinson during his recovery and time off work. To view the page click here.