Sitting on the sidelines is never easy for a footballer, and it's no different for FC Halifax Town captain Tom Baker, who has missed the Shaymen's last four games with a troublesome calf injury. However, the diminutive midfielder hopes to be available for his side's huge showdown with Nuneaton Town tomorrow night, having watched his team pick up points with regularity in his absence.
"I don't know if I'm in line for a start or not but the injury feels OK so I'm going to have a fitness test on Tuesday and then obviously if that all goes well then I'll declare myself fit and then it's up to the manager to pick his team. I've been out of the team for a few weeks now and it's possible I might start from the bench but you never know and I'll have to wait and see what happens. I feel like I've been out forever now even though it's only been a few weeks but I'm happy if I'm involved in any way really." said Baker.
Fellow injury victim Lee Gregory sat out the 2-2 draw with Eastwood Town on Saturday and the Halifax top scorer could also be restored to the team. However, with Gregory's back injury threatening to flare up at any time, it's a decision which Neil Aspin will have to treat with caution.
"There are 14 games to go now and if we start taking risks with injuries then there's a good chance that you're going to make that injury worse and end up missing half of those games. We've got to be sensible but on the flip side there's only that amount of games to go and I want to be involved as much as I can and I'm sure Lee does too." said Baker.
With FC Halifax Town currently enjoying a 10 match unbeaten streak in the league, Nuneaton face a daunting challenge to become the first team to beat the Shaymen since Altrincham way back in November. However, tomorrow's visitors come into the match in great form, having beaten Colwyn Bay 6-1 in their last game.
"I was looking at the table just a minute ago and they're only three points behind us so even though we're in second in the table, come this time next Saturday we could be either nine points ahead of them or even three points behind them so these two games are massive for us and hopefully we'll get a win on Tuesday to give us lots of momentum going into the game on Saturday." said Baker.
Tomorrow's game will also be the first game at the Shay in what seems like an eternity, with the Shaymen's Saturday afternoons seemingly always packed with a long bus journey down the country to take on another Blue Square North rival.
"It seems like every away journey in this league is a long way away and we spend a lot of time on the coach but it's always good to get a game at home at the Shay. Our home form's not been the best all season but the last time we played at home against Gainsborough it was a very good performance and we deserved to win that game. If we play like that again against Nuneaton then we won't be far away from the three points." said Baker.
Marley Anderson
