Second division is the aim for Leamington, says Holleran

As the Skrill North season approaches the half-way mark, Paul Holleran has set his sights on the league above.
Paul Holleran is not resting on his laurels despite Leamingtons impressive run of league form. MHLC-21-12-13 Brakes Workington Dec75Paul Holleran is not resting on his laurels despite Leamingtons impressive run of league form. MHLC-21-12-13 Brakes Workington Dec75
Paul Holleran is not resting on his laurels despite Leamingtons impressive run of league form. MHLC-21-12-13 Brakes Workington Dec75

However, it is not the Conference Premier the Leamington manager is targeting, but the safety of mid-table.

Before yesterday’s game at Brackley, Leamington stood a reassuring seven points clear of the bottom three, but with a tough run of fixtures to come, including six of the top eight, Holleran is wary of being sucked into a relegation scrap.

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“We can’t start thinking we’re getting away from it,” said Holleran.

“Worcester and Gloucester are getting runs together and Histon won on Saturday.

“There are three leagues in this division and we need to get into the second league with the likes of Vauxhall and Bradford.

“But there’s still hard work to be done to get into that pack.

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“The win at Telford gave us a massive boost but (the end of) December and January are going to be tough.”

A depleted Brakes side beat visitors Workington 2-0 last Saturday, with Craig Owen and Stefan Moore playing while suffering from a sickness and diarrhoea bug - Moore was sent straight home to bed after being substituted - and Josh Hawker joining Lee Chilton and Luke Connolly on the injured list alongside long-term absentees Richard Batchelor, Alex Taylor and Martyn Naylor.

Kieron Morris is back from suspension for the remainder of the festive period, while Holleran is hopeful Chilton and Connolly might play some part, but the Brakes boss is still targeting further reinforcements and a change in luck.

“Fair play to the players.

“So many things have gone wrong.

“We’ve never had a settled side, but we’ve come ito a league with good units and we’ve hung on in there.

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“It would be nice for the second half of the season to keep people fit, go on a run and see where that takes us.”

Brakes will be without Josh Green for tomorrow’s visit of Hednesford, with the centre-back serving a suspension for his sending-off at Dover in the FA Trophy.

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