Ellesmere boss calls for earlier league start next season

The Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier League club's hiatus has been forced by inclement weather and a three week league enforced Christmas break which now sees the Swans face a mounting fixture backlog.

Manager Mike O'Reilly said: "After 11 weeks with no game due to the weather and a three week Christmas break, whenever we get back playing will feel like the first game of the season.

"Hopefully, if we win our next two league cup matches there will be 21 fixtures remaining for us to fit in between now and the first week of May."

O'Reilly has kept his charges match-ready in training but admitted it was now a case of starting their season all over again.

He said: "As we didn't really have a pre season together as a squad and got chucked together on the first game, it's felt like a pre-season just without the friendlies.

"We've trained and kept the intensity as high as we could in the sessions to replicate a game but it's never quite the same."

O'Reilly remained confident his squad would step up and overcome the fixture backlog with more than 20 games to fit in between now and the end of May.

"Before this period of games being called off we were flying," said O'Reilly. "The lads and myself know that it's going to take a game or two to get back up to speed but hopefully we can still pick up the points in those games and then really finish the season strong."

O'Reilly called for the league to start earlier next season to avoid fixture backlogs.

He said: "I'm hoping we're not in this league and we can get promoted but if that's not the case then personally I think we need to squeeze in more fixture at the start of the season while the weather is still good and we have the light.

"We're okay at Ellesmere because we have floodlights to host matches all year round but only a handful of us in the league have that capability.

"I would reduce the amount of weeks without a game over Christmas but saying that, clubs will definitely miss a few players to other commitments around that time of year but the next level up play Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

"It is something for the league to ponder I think."