Baird urges Brett to get consistent
By Wendy Gee - 
BRETT Williams has proved he has the talent to hold down a regular place for Eastleigh in the Blue Square Bet South.
Now all he needs is the consistency to go with it.
The 23-year-old frontrunner, in his third spell with the Spitfires, won over an army of admirers two seasons ago when he rejoined the Silverlake club from Winchester City and played a key part in getting them into the play-offs.
But that form tailed off last season and he ended up dropping into the Zamaretto South & West with AFC Totton before rejoining Eastleigh, initially on loan, for the start of the current campaign.
After a promising start to the season Williams found himself warming the bench but, with Richard Gillespie out with a broken hand and Jamie Brown leaving, he has turned in two pleasing performances at Sutton United in the FA Trophy and in Tuesday's 2-0 league win at Weston-super-Mare.
"We lost Jamie Slabber to flu, so we played Brett up front on his own at Weston and he did really well again," acknowledged manager Ian Baird.
"He set his standards at Sutton, where he was outstanding, and for the first 55 minutes at Weston he was just the same.
"If he can get his consistency, he'd be a regular without a doubt."
Having rattled in six goals without reply on their last two trips, Eastleigh travel to third-placed Farnborough tomorrow in confident mood.
After endless injury interruptions, Baird feels his ninth-placed side are beginning to click.
"I've always said that if we can keep players fit, we'll do okay," he said.
"People like Anthony Riviere and Peter Adeniyi are finally getting fit after being out for so long and the likes of Ross Bottomley, who played at left-back at Sutton and right-back at Weston, are getting a lot more confident.
"For me, one of our unsung heroes is Danny Smith - a man for all seasons. He's quiet, he gets on with the job and you know you can rely on him.
"Danny's form keeps Rivs and Adeniyi on their toes. If I decide to go with two in central midfield, no way will Danny allow himself to be left out."
Promoted Southern League champions Farnborough are on a roll of nine league games unbeaten. They would have gone top by beating Basingstoke in Tuesday's north Hampshire derby, but were pegged back for a 1-1 home draw.
"They're all must-win games at the moment. That's the situation," said Baird.
"There's big expectancy at Eastleigh. Someone said to me at Weston the other night that it could be the defining game of our season.
"Weston have 25 points - 20 of them at home - and had just beaten top of the table Bromley 7-0.
"It was another pressure game for us and we've got to take confidence from how well we did on Tuesday and away at Sutton.
"Steve King's done a good job at Farnborough. He spent heavily last season to get them up with a side of Conference South players and this season they're expected to be there or thereabouts."
One player unlikely to feature tomorrow is Brett Poate. Having been given the all-clear to return from a broken arm, he went out running over Christmas and strained a calf muscle.
There are question marks too over Slabber (flu), winger Tony Taggart (hamstring) and goalkeeper Gareth Barfoot, jolted in a block tackle at Weston.
BRETT Williams has proved he has the talent to hold down a regular place for Eastleigh in the Blue Square Bet South.
Now all he needs is the consistency to go with it.
The 23-year-old frontrunner, in his third spell with the Spitfires, won over an army of admirers two seasons ago when he rejoined the Silverlake club from Winchester City and played a key part in getting them into the play-offs.
But that form tailed off last season and he ended up dropping into the Zamaretto South & West with AFC Totton before rejoining Eastleigh, initially on loan, for the start of the current campaign.
After a promising start to the season Williams found himself warming the bench but, with Richard Gillespie out with a broken hand and Jamie Brown leaving, he has turned in two pleasing performances at Sutton United in the FA Trophy and in Tuesday's 2-0 league win at Weston-super-Mare.
"We lost Jamie Slabber to flu, so we played Brett up front on his own at Weston and he did really well again," acknowledged manager Ian Baird.
"He set his standards at Sutton, where he was outstanding, and for the first 55 minutes at Weston he was just the same.
"If he can get his consistency, he'd be a regular without a doubt."
Having rattled in six goals without reply on their last two trips, Eastleigh travel to third-placed Farnborough tomorrow in confident mood.
After endless injury interruptions, Baird feels his ninth-placed side are beginning to click.
"I've always said that if we can keep players fit, we'll do okay," he said.
"People like Anthony Riviere and Peter Adeniyi are finally getting fit after being out for so long and the likes of Ross Bottomley, who played at left-back at Sutton and right-back at Weston, are getting a lot more confident.
"For me, one of our unsung heroes is Danny Smith - a man for all seasons. He's quiet, he gets on with the job and you know you can rely on him.
"Danny's form keeps Rivs and Adeniyi on their toes. If I decide to go with two in central midfield, no way will Danny allow himself to be left out."
Promoted Southern League champions Farnborough are on a roll of nine league games unbeaten. They would have gone top by beating Basingstoke in Tuesday's north Hampshire derby, but were pegged back for a 1-1 home draw.
"They're all must-win games at the moment. That's the situation," said Baird.
"There's big expectancy at Eastleigh. Someone said to me at Weston the other night that it could be the defining game of our season.
"Weston have 25 points - 20 of them at home - and had just beaten top of the table Bromley 7-0.
"It was another pressure game for us and we've got to take confidence from how well we did on Tuesday and away at Sutton.
"Steve King's done a good job at Farnborough. He spent heavily last season to get them up with a side of Conference South players and this season they're expected to be there or thereabouts."
One player unlikely to feature tomorrow is Brett Poate. Having been given the all-clear to return from a broken arm, he went out running over Christmas and strained a calf muscle.
There are question marks too over Slabber (flu), winger Tony Taggart (hamstring) and goalkeeper Gareth Barfoot, jolted in a block tackle at Weston.
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