Horncastle Town's clash against Skegness 'one to look forward to' as boss Cotton plots to move up table

Horncastle and opponents Skegness Town both have some talented young players in their squads, such as the Wongers’ Oliver Dean. Photo: Oliver Atkin

Horncastle Town host Lincs League rivals Skegness Town Reserves on Saturday - but Wongers boss Andrew Cotton isn’t 100 per cent sure what to expect from the contest.

The two sides - both sat in the bottom five of the table - have had some unpredictable results this campaign, sometimes pulling off shocks and at times not reaching the heights expected.

“They’re very unpredictable, again similar to us a little bit, maybe a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team,” Cotton said.

“When we produce a really good performance then we’re a match for many sides in the division. They’re very similar, both have got some very good young players.

“They’ve got a really good system, they’re showing a lot of signs they’re progressing their club as well. Credit to them.”

The seasiders edged the last meeting between the two sides in December, but the Wongers will be keen to pick up three points and possibly leapfrog 14th place Keelby United this weekend (KO 3pm).

“When we went to their place, they were a decent side,” Cotton added.

“We lost 2-1 but were well in the game and I think it will be a close game again this time.

“It’s probably a good one to look forward to with it being a local derby. We’ve had a couple of defeats on the bounce and it’s one where we want to try to get something.”

Liam Cotton netted Horncastle’s goal in the last meeting between the two sides, but will be unavailable after breaking his ankle in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Barton Town Reserves.

Steve Puckering was on target for the Wongers.

Cotton added: “It was a difficult one to sum up really, we never really hit the levels we wanted, to be honest.

“Saying that, we were well in the game and managing it all the way through, but just didn’t have enough cutting edge.

“We went 1-0 down, equalised and they had a man sent off with half and hour to go, and we kind of lost our heads a little bit after that.

“Instead of trying to keep the ball and find that space, we almost resorted to trying to hit the final third really quickly. We weren’t quite clever enough in that situation.”