SHRIVENHAM manager Gareth Davies is trying to take the positives ahead of his side’s Hellenic League Cup match against Moreton Rangers on Saturday.

Davies has taken charge of four games inside 14 days already and the Shrivenham boss is getting ready to head up another fixture as his team host Moreton in the club’s third different competition this season.

The Hellenic Cup – which, as the name suggests, includes every member of the level nine and 10 set-up – could be seen as an unnecessary distraction, or it could be used as a way of ensuring any potential first-team players are match sharp ahead of a surprise call-up.

And with one Shrivenham player already suffering an injury in the embryonic stages of the campaign, Davies revealed he will use the cup competition as a run out for his undercooked squad members.

He said: “It’s good in one way because the lads that haven’t been playing will get a run out, and it’s an opportunity to give everybody some minutes.

“We picked up an injury on Tuesday night in the FA Cup replay – Ryan Stanners will definitely be missing this weekend with a knee problem – but what it does is give someone else the chance to come in and keep the shirt.

“This season, the competition for places is very good, so in one way this competition is good, but it can also be a distraction.”

Shrivenham ended last term in scintillating form, going on a 17-match unbeaten run in the league as they finished fifth.

However, they ended the season with two defeats and have started this campaign slowly, winning one and losing one in the league, while scraping through on penalties in the FA Cup extra preliminary qualifying round.

Whatever the reason for their slow start this time around, Davies wants to see a rapid return to the kind of form that saw his side break club records earlier this year.

He said: “In the games that we’ve played so far, we’re nowhere near where we were last year.

“Whether that is just a little bit of rust, we need to start finding our rhythm.

“We’ve got some big games coming up in the next few weeks and we need to find that rhythm a little bit quicker.

“In the last few weeks, we’ve started games quite sluggish. We need that to stop. We need to be at it from the first minute to the last.

“I’d like to think we’ll get there, it’s coming. I’ve seen flashes of how good can we be, it’s just a case of getting that consistency back.

“We’ll get there, and hopefully that will start on Saturday.”

Elsewhere, Fairford Town host New College Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett travel to Stonehouse Town and Malmesbury Victoria head to Bishops Cleeve.