United head to London today in preparation for Saturday’s Buildbase FA Trophy first round match against Boreham Wood at Meadow Park (3pm KO).
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Gary Johnson at his weekly press call. “It’s a conference club that has done very well over the last couple of seasons. It takes the pressure off our league games for a little bit. It may give me the opportunity to give some lads that have not been regular starters through injury to see where they are over a 90 minute period.
“Any side we put out will be a competitive team. We’re going to be going down there to try and win the game. The lads are too competitive; I’m too competitive. We’ve got to make sure the team we pick is competitive and the team we pick knows we are to put up a good performance against a strong Conference side.There’s other things as well that we need to take into consideration and I’ll be man managing, game managing this particular game.”
“The manager [Luke Garrard] has a few season now to build a squad – I know him well. We certainly talk, and he’s an up and coming manager that will end up a League manager at some stage. He’s put together a strong experienced team. Nobody goes to Boreham Wood and gets an easy game. It’s a good game for us at this stage to do what I need to do and I’m looking forward to it.”
Youth product Olaf Koszela looks likely to be a part of the match day squad.
“I think he’s ready now just for us to say “we’ll go on then son, show us what you’ve got!” That could be coming off the bench and I could start him, but we’re quite excited to see where he is. He is sixteen but he looks like a man. Judging by training today he’ll handle it very well.
“He ticks a lot of boxes. He’s been working with the first team for five or six weeks. That has definitely helped him grow up a little bit. He’s entitled to be a kid for a little while, but he’s now training like a man. I wouldn’t involve him if I didn’t feel he was ready to perform, or if it was going to put him back a couple of months.”
Boreham Wood are currently in 11th place in the National League and enjoyed a 1-0 win over Leyton Orient last time out.. They have one win, two draws, and two losses from their last five games.
Opi Edwards will be missing from the match squad but may be ready to train next week. Ryan Dickson will also be missing from the match day squad due to injury.
Buildbase FA Trophy | Boreham Wood Vs Torquay United | 15/12/18 | 3pm KO | Fans can save by buying in advance of the match day online – click here.
Boreham Wood FC | Meadow Park, Broughinge Rd, Borehamwood WD6 5AL
A reminder to all fans that if the game is level after 90 minutes then extra-time will be played. If the game is still level after extra-time then the match will be decided by penalties.