Ely City ready for Walsham Le Willows test amid poor form

After defeat at Mildenhall Town on January 14, City made it four defeats from their last six Eastern Counties Premier Division games, conceding 21 and scoring six. 

That form has seen them struggle to climb out of the league’s bottom half of late, while work off the pitch his ongoing. 

“The recent form has been very poor,” said McAvoy. 

“We've been conceding too many goals, and at the other end we aren't scoring enough goals, which is something we need to fix quickly. 

“We’ve lost a lot of players over the last four to five weeks, which has been a big factor in our drop in form.” 

Six of McAvoy’s usual starting 11 have moved on in recent weeks, forcing the Robins chief to use players out of position. 

On the pitch, Ely were outdone 5-1 by Mildenhall in their last outing, having conceded 10 minutes into the game at a team chasing promotion. 

“We showed a bit of character in the second half and created a few chances where if we had taken them, we may have made more of a game of it,” McAvoy said. 

Ash Walter is expected to play for Ely City at Walsham Le Willows. (Image: Daniel Mason)

Ely are hoping to add a second win of 2023 so far when they face Walsham Le Willows on January 28, 2pm, who sit three places and four points above City in 11th. 

McAvoy is looking to welcome back experienced duo Ash Walter and Austen Diaper for the game, with the hope of bringing in two new signings. 

And the Robins manager is expecting a tough test against a side that have lost three of their last 10 home games in all competitions. 

“Walsham have had some really good results recently, so it's going to be a tough game where we need to be at our best,” McAvoy said. 

“Everyone needs to take pride in their performance and the way they prepare, and with a good mindset of working hard and sticking together, things will improve. 

“We need to make sure we start to do the right things and being better in both boxes.”