Airbus UK Broughton boss Andy Preece is confident an enforced break will be a welcome breath of fresh air for his side, who are aiming to make history this weekend.
The Wingmakers have never won at Rhyl and will be hoping it’ll be a case of third time lucky after the clash – originally scheduled for last Sunday afternoon – was postponed for a second time on Tuesday night because of a frozen pitch.
Preece wanted the game played as soon as possible, while their hosts were keen for a weekend fixture. But the Airbus director of football concedes another delay could prove beneficial when his team finally lock horns with the Lilywhites on Saturday (2.30pm).
He said: “At the end of the day, it’s their pitch and it’s their prerogative. If we didn’t want to play a game we’d do the same, we wouldn’t do anything to get it on.
“I wanted to get it out of the way and give the lads a few days off, because we haven’t got the biggest squad and a lot of them have been playing all the time.
“They’ve probably done us a favour, though, because we had several players struggling who would probably have played and maybe done themselves further damage, and they will all be fit for Saturday. It’s the strongest we’ll have been in a long time.”
With the exception of captain Ian Kearney, who is ruled out until the end of the season, Airbus could have a full squad to choose from for their final game of the Welsh Premier League’s first phase. The returning Wayne Riley is expected to make his second debut.
The Wingmakers are currently fourth in the table, four points behind Bala Town and five behind Aberystwyth, who they have a game in hand on.
Preece told The Chronicle: “If we can win our last game then it’ll make it very hard for the teams in fifth and six to catch us in the second part of the season. We’ve never won there, I’ve been told. There can’t be many records left for us to break, but that’s one of them.
“Before the start of the season I had Rhyl in my top six. They did well last year and they strengthened in the summer. They’re a dangerous side and a team you don’t want to play against.”
