WITH the return of local soccer on the horizon, teams are readying themselves for a return to the pitch.
Nichols Point are aiming to get themselves into the best possible position for an attack on the S-League Senior Men’s finals series, which begins on Sunday against competition heavyweights Mildura City.
They will have to do so without their star striker, Broken Hill recruit Jordan Cox, who has suffered a broken collarbone.
Pointers coach Lachlan Giles said he would have to throw some players around to find the right combination in their return.
“The boys are all very keen to get out there,” he said. “Every time a lockdown happens it does put the brakes on your momentum.
“Obviously we couldn’t train as a team, but we’ve been talking about what we can improve on.
“One of our main things will be working on our build-up play and we’ll have to move a few blokes around a bit.
“The guys are pretty keen to get back out there. With the COVID cases being in Mildura I think there has been some scepticism as to when we would get back.”
While Cox, who has eight goals for the season and is only one behind a trio of Golden Boot winners, has been a star so far, so has young gun Daniel Plummer in defence.
“Daniel has been another one we’ve been impressed with this year,” Giles said.
“He’s only 17 and in his first year of seniors and is playing at centre back. It’s a lot of responsibility but he’s got a really mature head and he cracks in.”
Giles said the main goal of the side was to build towards the finals series, providing it still goes ahead.
“We hope to get ourselves into a good position to attack the finals,” he said.
“City are still the team to beat, but they don’t seem as untouchable as they were. I think Irymple Knights held them to a 0-0 draw and Three Colours pushed them as well.
“It’s a really tough competition this year, all teams have been really hard to play against.”
Irymple Knights face Three Colours in the other Sunday match while in Senior Women’s fixtures City play Colours, and Irymple come up against Northern Suns. Nichols Point have the bye.
