Newark Town manager Luke Parsons has goalkeeper call to make between Josh Wilson and Jake West as League Cup semi-final with Lincoln United ahead
Luke Parsons intends to pick a strong side for Newark Town’s League Cup semi-final as the chance to win silverware looms.
The Blues are fighting hard for a United Counties League Premier Division North play-off place, sitting fifth after rescuing a point from 2-0 down at Belper last weekend.
There’s another important league game at Hucknall this Saturday (3pm) before visiting Lincoln United in the cup semi-final on Tuesday (7.45pm).
Boss Parsons has made a number of changes in previous rounds but that won’t be the case for the last-four clash.
He said: “It’s a semi-final and we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can potentially win some silverware regardless of what happens in the league.
“It’s a chance for maybe one or two changes but we’ll be going relatively strong.
“Trophies on a Saturday come so hard. I only won one trophy on a Saturday in my whole career but I won about 25 on a Sunday.
“If you get an opportunity to win something, you’ve got to give yourself the best chance of taking it.”
One big call facing Parsons for the run-in comes in goal.
Josh Wilson, who started the season as No.1 before suffering an injury, has played the last two league games.
He’s regained his place from Jake West after impressing in the League Cup quarter-final win at Skegness.
West is likely to feature at Lincoln, after which the manager will decide who’s his first choice for the rest of the season.
“It’s Josh’s shirt at the minute,” said Parsons. “It’s what you want, you want competition.
“We’ve got three games next week, one’s a cup game, so Westy will be back in goal for one of them, and it’s which keeper performs best will keep the shirt for the rest of the season.
“There isn’t much between them. You could literally flip a coin and that’s why it’s so hard.
“They’ve got different strengths but one doesn’t outweigh the other.
“They’re both young keepers, both the same age, both been at academies, one’s probably slightly better at crosses, one’s slightly better at playing out. That’s probably about it.”
Newark produced another stirring fightback to draw with Belper, having trailed 2-0 at half-time.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men just after the break and the Blues made them pay through Louis Czerwak and an 86th-minute equaliser for substitute Andrew Tsolakis.
Newark pushed hard for a winner but had to settle for a point.
“Again, we’re talking about a fightback. How many times have we been 2-0 down this season?” said Parsons.
“I wanted three points before the game, at half-time I’d have taken a point, but at full-time I’m probably disappointed we didn’t get three.
“The second half was pretty much attack versus defence.
“First half, we were poor and they were brilliant, really good, and we never got going.
“Second half, from minute one, we were on the front foot.
“The red card changed the game in fairness and from that point they tried to defend deep and see it out and we were chucking everything at them.”
Weekend opponents Hucknall have climbed to 14th after picking up under their new management.
Parsons, who’s set to welcome back top scorer Ryan Smith from injury, is expecting a difficult game.
He said: “Hucknall away will be a tough game.
“They’ve had some positive results since their new gaffer’s come in.
“In fact, their better results have been against better teams.
“We know it’s going to be hard but if we are to make the play-offs, and it’s in our hands, we’ll deserve to be in there if we beat teams like Hucknall, who are flying.
“I know quite a bit about them. It’ll be a very tough game but we’re confident we can go anywhere in this league and pick up points. But we’ll have to be at our best.”
