Matlock boss cannot wait to get started

Matlock Town hope to return to action on Dec 7 against Coleshill Town.

All NPL clubs received an update from NPL HQ on Tuesday outlining the arrangements for a restart to the campaign which came to a halt on 5 November.

Clubs are to be allowed a week to get up to speed for a resumption with the first set of games set for week commencing December 7, which in Matlock’s case will be their FA Trophy 1st Round clash at Southern League Division One Central Coleshill Town.

Should Matlock be successful, the next round is scheduled for the week commencing December 14, before the third round proper which has been set for Saturday 19 December.

“Having no football to look forward to on a Saturday and some midweeks is doing everyone’s head in isn’t it, we’re keen to get back playing as we had momentum before the lockdown,” he said.

"Our lads have been working hard to keep their fitness levels up on their own during the break, we just hope now that we can get back playing in December.

“The Premiership and EFL clubs wouldn’t take kindly to just a week of training before a return but at our level we have to be realistic.

"There’s time constraints with the amount of games we have to play so we’ll get on with it and hope we can carry on from where we left off before the break.

"We’ll go into the Coleshill game blind which isn’t the way we normally do things but we’ll prepare the best we can and hope to get through.”

Matlock are as many as three games behind some of their rivals and a run in the Trophy is likely to cause a backlog but Phillips says Matlock must be ready for that scenario.

The Gladiators may play just one more league game before Christmas at home to Lancaster City on Saturday 12 December.

He added: “If we progress like I hope we will then here’s going to be a backlog with the league games so we need to ensure that we’ve got that covered in terms of our squad.”

The delay will mean that the last day of the NPL season takes place on Saturday 22 May, with the play-off semi-finals being set for the following midweek and the play-off final on Monday 31 May.