Staveley boss concerned for rest of season after surge in COVID-19 cases

Staveley boss Brett Marshall fears for the future. Photo: James Williamson.

Matches in leagues up and down the country have bitten the dust in recent weeks - with the Trojans also having a player test positive back in August.

And Marshall says the current situation backs up his previous criticism of the decision to return to football under the ongoing cloud of uncertainty.

“My first statement months ago was about the need for a vaccine and the worst thing we could do would be to start the season and then stop and start it again,” he said.

“What I said is coming true now. We tried to hoodwink it with things like players having to get changed on the touchline. Everyone was desperate to get football on and it put a cloud over the situation.

“Whether we like it or not this is not going to go away. It is inevitable that every team will have somebody with it and every team will have someone going for a test..

“We have had two or three with it and two or three rounds of tests, it can’t be just us.”

On the field Staveley have had a season to forget so far having already exited the FA Cup and FA Vase.

They were knocked out of the Vase at the weekend after losing on penalties to AFC Darwen.

But is a result Marshall has few complaints over.

“Darwen arrived slightly late and we had a late-kick off, but I’m not making excuses. We didn’t win it because we didn’t deserve to win it,” he said.

“It was disappointing to go out. Regardless of what happened in penalties, it shouldn’t have got that far.

“In the first 25 minutes we absolutely destroyed them but couldn’t score. We had chance after chance.

“They came into it in the second half, but we had two one-on-ones in the second half. If you don't take them you don't win football matches.

“If we look at preparation for season, for me it’s been the worse in near on 20 years, its been awful.

"As much as you want to get the 6-7 friemlides in, we had to cancel three - those were the rules and what we had to do. We just had to get on with it.

“At this stage it’s about geting the wins and points on the board until it levels itself out.”