Talbot driven by last year's agony

Jan 12 2012 By Yann Tear

Danny Talbot

SKIPPER Danny Talbot says the memory of last year’s late slump will ensure Chesham do not fade out of the promotion picture.

Saturday’s disappointing 3-0 defeat at AFC Totton means the Generals have won only once in seven league games and have no chance to make immediate amends because scheduled opponents Weymouth are involved in the FA Trophy this weekend.

But Talbot believes last season’s experience will stand the team in good stead and that the current dip is nothing to worry about.

“We’re disappointed with our recent return of points, definitely,” Talbot told the Examiner. “We haven’t done as well as we’d have liked and haven’t picked up enough points in the last five or six games, but I wouldn’t say there’s any crisis or lack of belief.

“We’ve also got the disappointment of how we fell away last season to motivate us – that will be in the players’ minds. We all want to make sure that doesn’t happen again and that we do have something to play for come the end of the season.”

He added: “I think the fact we’ve been up there before will help us. We’ve had a couple of years now in this league, and in the division below the year before that, where we’ve been in and around the play-off spots or challenging for the top and I’m sure that will help us. We are still in the top pack, with something like four points separating eight teams and we’re still in there, despite our bad run of form.

“I think we can regain the consistency that got us up there in the first place.”

Talbot missed the defeat at Totton, a stray Arlesey elbow having fractured his nose on New Year’s Eve. The blank weekend gives him more time to recover before Stourbridge visit on Saturday week, but he said it would have been better had he been forced to miss another match.

“After losing to Totton, we just want to get back out there and put three points on the board again,” he said.

“We want to show we are one of the teams that are going to be up there and it’s frustrating to have to wait for the next chance.”