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Three out for Conference opener
Hereford United open their sixth season in the Nationwide Conference with a home match against Farnborough Town tomorrow, kick off 3pm.
The Bulls will be without the injured duo of Ben Smith and Scott Voice, whilst John Grant joins them on the sidelines through suspension. The main doubt for manager Graham Turner is Michael Rose, who picked up a knock in last Saturday's 1-0 friendly win at Evesham United.
"I've been looking at their side and they are vastly experienced with the likes of Charlery, Butterworth and Pennock," admitted Turner in tonight's Evening News. "You look through their squad and it is also very strong but it will be up to us to impose our game on them. We need to play them and not be intimidated by their physical presence. I think we lack a physical presence and experience but what we make up for that in is ability and mobility."
"We've had a decent pre-season in terms of the quality of training and we've worked very hard," he continued. "We have to improve our defending but we have got some semblance of understanding at the back playing three central defenders and it has gone quite well. We've got a young squad of players with plenty of enthusiasm and it is going to be interesting to see how they gel and respond to the challenge of the Conference. Steve Guinan has signed for a year from Shrewsbury which gives us an option up front in Grant's absence."
Steve Watson will sit out Farnborough Town's first five Conference matches after his dismissal for violent conduct at the end of last season. He is joined in the stands by fellow midfielder Chris Piper for the trip to Hereford. Manager Graham Westley includes new signings Tony Pennock, Garry Butterworth (both from Rushden), Danny Carroll (Crawley Town), and Ken Charlery (Dagenham) in his squad, whilst goalkeeper Mark Osborn and striker Leroy Griffiths have joined on loan for the entire season from Wycombe and QPR respectively, and could feature.
The Evening News predicts a 2-0 win for Farnborough - now it's your turn! Make your guess in the HU-FC.co.uk Predictions League by clicking 'Interactive!' on the left menu.
Meanwhile, ex-Hereford trialist Kevin Street has joined Northwich Victoria, whilst the Bulls home match against the Vics will be played on October 15th. Furthermore, Kettering Town have snapped up Scott Goodwin on a free transfer after his release from Edgar Street last May.
