James hoping Burnham FC quickly rediscovers pre-lockdown form

Ashleigh James is hopeful his Burnham side rediscovers the form they showed just prior to lockdown when they restart their Hellenic Premier Division campaign away to Easington Sports on Saturday.

After an indifferent start to the campaign the Blues were just starting to get into their stride when the season was halted by the country’s second national lockdown.

They’d won two from three matches, defeating Holmer Green 2-1 at the end of October when the season was paused.

During the past six weeks the players have been tasked with keeping themselves fit away from the training ground. They’ve taken part in Zoom HIIT sessions with the rest of the squad.

James hopes they haven’t lost too much of their match sharpness during this time away from the training ground.

“We’ve been asking the players to do their bit in terms of running and fitness,” said James. “We’ve also had HIIT Zoom sessions as well which were good.

“Since returning we’ve had a training session and played Beaconsfield in a friendly. We’ve another friendly with Northwood this week before we go to Easington on Saturday.

“It’s important for us to get back on the wagon and hopefully pick up where we left off pre-lockdown.

“Everyone associated with the club felt like things were going in the right direction, both on and off the field.

“The FA Cup was a distraction, don’t get me wrong it was a good distraction, but now it’s time to focus on the league.

“We felt that we were in good form and there was a good feeling about the club.

“Hopefully we can get back to how things were quickly.”

Burnham loitered near the foot of the Premier Division table for much of the campaign, but their form prior to lockdown saw them climb to 11th in the table.

They’ll hope to continue this upward trend when they get back to competitive action this weekend.

In preparation for Saturday’s match at Easington, the Blues have played a couple of friendly matches against Beaconsfield and Northwood, winning the second of them 2-1 on Tuesday evening.

“A lot of the players have been out doing runs,” he said.

“But there’s nothing like playing matches.

“You can do all the runs you like but when you get back on the pitch you feel a lot different.

“The players have done what they’ve needed to do to keep themselves in shape and that hopefully stands us in good stead for Saturday’s game at Easington.

“We’ll also have played a couple of friendlies against higher level opposition to try and get us back up to speed quickly.

“I’m not saying that’ll make Saturday’s game any easier, but it’s given us a good start.”