NEIL YOUNG has revealed the difficulty he faced with team selection ahead of Chester’s comfortable 4-0 weekend victory at Rushall Olympic.
The Blues boss opted to name in-form striker Matty McNeil as a lone striker in his starting XI in favour of the 35-year-old partnering Michael Wilde, Chris Simm or Jamie Rainford in the front line who were all listed as substitutes.
And McNeil justified Young’s decision by netting a stunning strike to earn Chester a 1-0 half-time lead, before Michael Powell, Wilde and new signing Levi Mackin all contributed after the break.
“Before the game and all week I had been thinking about what to do in terms of team selection, but I decided to virtually go with the same side I selected for the Nantwich game,” Young said.
“Gary Jones (assistant manager) said to me on Thursday after training ‘all the best picking that team because I don’t want anything to do with it!’
“It’s never nice to leave players out, but that’s why I’m the manager of the football club. I’ve got to try and make big decisions and try and get the main decisions right.
“It’s not just a case of telling people they aren’t playing. I’ve also got the expectation of the crowd. But I’m not stubborn, I stick to my guns and do what I believe in.
“I work with the players two or three times a week, so I like to think that I know them well.
“Our training session on Thursday was excellent because it had a real zip about it. Gary and I both agree that we’ve got a good squad, but it’s a case of just keeping them all fit and keep them ticking over.
“I’m certain that we’ll be challenging at the end of the season and I can now start to see things coming together and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Chester have moved three points clear at the top of the Northern Premier Division table, as nearest challengers Northwich Victoria and Hednesford Town were both held to draws.
Paying tribute to his good friend and ex-Tranmere Rovers player Alex Hay for helping to plot the downfall of Chester’s opposition, Young added: “We do our homework and Alex is a little bit of an unsung hero for us because he travels all over the country throughout the week.
“Having Alex watch games for us is a massive help. We knew what Rushall had with Ahmed Obeng up front, who must have picked up a knock for him to be substituted at half-time. But we got tight to him and made sure he didn’t run in behind us.
“We knew Ahmed was a danger and that’s why several league clubs are looking at him. We also knew they would be going back to front very quick and that they would try and turn us, but we squeezed them high up the pitch and when we won the ball we tried to look after it.
“I thought we played with a little bit more pace in wide areas to get the ball into the box and it was good to see us playing to our strengths.
“We have been working on setpieces and I think everyone could see that our deliveries were a million times better than what we’ve had recently, and it was good to see us putting Rushall under so much pressure.
“People said we were under the cosh against Northwich on Boxing Day, but all they did on that day was put balls into our box from throw ins and free kicks, and that’s precisely what we did at Rushall.”