Eastwood hope to get back in action after Covid-enforced break

A large number of Covid-related absences meant the game against the league leaders was called off by the United Counties League once it had become apparent just how depleted Eastwood’s squad would be.

But Rockley now expects this weekend’s game to go ahead assuming all is well in both camps.

He said: “We had an outbreak and once we’d submitted the relevant information to the league it was they that took the decision to postpone the game. Had we been asked to play then we’d have done so. It’s also made training difficult too this week of course.

"Hopefully this weekend we’ll have a few more returning to action as Lavell White is returning from suspension and I’m also hoping to have made a couple of loan signings from step four clubs as well.

"All we can do is play as many games as possible and as with everyone else, if there is a backlog of games caused by the Covid problems then we’ll deal with that when it comes. I’d say that’s far more preferable to everyone than having the season curtailed again.”

Eastwood remain without a win since Rockley and Zander Shayler took over, the last outing seeing a 3-0 home defeat to Heanor Town just after Christmas, but with a large number of players having both left the club and been signed by the Red Badgers, Rockley believes a first win isn’t far away.

He said: “Once we can get the first point or three then I think it’ll do us a lot of good and we can start looking towards unbeaten runs.

"We’ve been unlucky at times and have not taken enough of the good chances we’ve created, the game against Heanor being a prime example where they took their good chances and we didn’t. It was a similar story against Leicester Nirvana, where better finishing could have given us a better chance.

"But we continue to move forward with optimism and go into this weekend’s game confident of picking up those first points.”