Reinforced Wrens ready to rest up

For the second successive Saturday Rainworth MW find themselves without a fixture this weekend, but there has been no lack of activity behind the scenes at the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League club, writes Gordon Foster.

The Wrens did pull in an evening game at Mickleover Sports on Tuesday, although even that would have fallen had Sports required an FA Trophy replay. The Derbyshire outfit, though, saw off Kettering Town to continue their own flying start to the season - a start which had seen them drop league points to only two clubs so far.

One of those cubs was Rainworth, who held them to a 2-2 draw at Kirklington Road in August, but there was to be no repeat as Mickleover won 2-0 in midweek to maintain their unblemished home record. The up side for the Wrens, though, was the presence of a number of new signings, with at least one more expected this week.

Joint manager Ian Robinson has signed a registration form as a player, and at 36 the one-time cultured Alfreton Town left back is certainly not too old to pull on his boots. Robinson remained on the bench on Tuesday, alongside new goalkeeper Jake Turner who has joined from Grantham Town, but there was a debut for central defender Dan White, who was immediately handed the captain's arm band with regular skipper Craig Mitchell serving a one-match ban.

White, who recently left Premier Division Belper Town, has signed from Midland Alliance promotion hopefuls Basford United for his second spell at Kirklington Road. Promising young forward Sam Loughran also made his debut after joining from Scarborough Athletic, and there was a first start on the left of midfield for Will Rawdon from Grantham, following a couple of appearances from the bench.

The Wrens are also understood to be close to signing another new defender and also a vastly experienced midfielder who has played at a high level of the game, as they seek to strengthen the side in a bid to climb away from their present position just above the relegation zone.

Once again, though, they will sit this Saturday out as a result of the FA Cup success of scheduled visitors Norton United, and they are not in competitive match action again until Saturday week when they face another away trip to a club at the top end of the table, Newcastle Town.

Skipper Mitchell will be available for that game, but Dean Freeman will still be out, serving the second half of his two-match ban following his dismissal at Market Drayton Town.

Follow us: @evostikleague on Twitter | The NPL group on Facebook by clicking here: www.facebook.com/groups/TheNPL/