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Sheldon stays focused ahead of Trophy clash

Friday, November 21, 2008, 00:00

TAMWORTH hot-shot Gareth Sheldon is refusing to get too far ahead of himself as the Lambs prepare for Saturday's FA Trophy clash with Workington.

The Trophy gives players the chance to dream of reaching Wembley or drawing a top Conference National side.

But Sheldon insists the focus this weekend must simply be on Workington and he says Tamworth's 4-1 win over their opponents earlier in the season means nothing.

He said: "There is no point sitting down and thinking we could be playing someone big in a couple of weeks time as that would take away from the task in hand.

"Of course, it would be nice to get the win and then maybe draw someone like Burton but we have been taking each game as it comes all year and we will continue to do that now.

"Workington are a team we know a lot about after playing them already in the league this season so we will be concentrating on that rather than looking to the future."

When the two sides met earlier on in the season the Lambs came out victorious 4-1 and Sheldon is hoping for a repeat performance this time around.

"I must admit the Trophy is not my main aim this season – that is the league – but it would still be nice to go on a little run," he said.

"A lot of the lads would like to do well in the competition but only if it went hand in hand with success in the Conference North.

"There is no point winning in the Trophy and then finishing fifth come the end of the season.

"We went behind against Workington the last time we played them but then came back and dominated the game and went on to get a really good result.

"We saw nothing then that would worry us but teams have been giving us extra attention recently so who knows."

The extra attention the side have been receiving, Sheldon admitted, has been parallel to their fine start in the league this season – and he would not want it any other way.

"I would rather teams were setting us up as the team to be beaten than for us to be thinking 'here come the top of the league side we have to raise our game'," he said.

"We knew that if we had this kind of start, teams would work extra hard against us, but we would not want to change being top for anything.

"You can see it with how teams treat individual players as well.

"Alex Rodman has been doubled up on and so has Nick Wright.

"And after playing up front I have noticed it also."

Despite the extra attention Sheldon has still been on fire this season and is currently the top scorer in the Blue Square North.

The 28-year-old frontman said he could not be happier with his own form this season.

He said: "I think it has been down to confidence this year to be honest.

"At the beginning of the campaign I just wanted to beat what I achieved last year, not go on and be the top scorer.

"Things have just gone really well and it has led to a lot of banter. Myself, Nick and Rodders are all after the top scorer spot which means we are all giving each other stick at the moment."










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