Gillespie facing battle for place
By Wendy Gee - 
RICHARD Gillespie admits he has got his work cut out to force his way back into Eastleigh's starting eleven.
So deep is the Spitfires' treasue trove of talent that even scoring five goals in three games on a recent loan spell at his old club Bashley is no guarantee of him regaining his place.
Gillespie was done no favours on his return to the Eastleigh ranks. Having gone on as a substitute with a quarter of an hour to go at Basingstoke last month, he landed awkwardly and jarred his knee.
He returned to action on Tuesday night, going on as a late substitute for Bradley Bubb in the 3-2 win over Havant & Waterlooville.
But, on the evidence of Eastleigh's 4-0 slaying of Sutton United two weeks ago, he knows he has a lot to do to dislodge the likes of hat-trick hero Bubb and Damian Scannell from the side.
"The squad's so competitive now, I don't know what's going to happen," he said.
"It's a big old squad and it tells you something that Chris Flood didn't even get into the 16 for the Sutton game.
"All that competition should bring out the best in people and hopefully I will get some time on the pitch.
"I thought the lads did brilliantly against Sutton," he added. "It was a lot better than against Salisbury (a 1-1 draw).
"We passed the ball well against Salisbury, but didn't seem to have a cutting edge. But we definitely had that against Sutton.
"Bradley Bubb was fantastic. He had three chances and scored three goals. You can't argue with that.
"I guess all I can do is stay positive and confident and see what happens."
So deep is the Spitfires' treasue trove of talent that even scoring five goals in three games on a recent loan spell at his old club Bashley is no guarantee of him regaining his place.
Gillespie was done no favours on his return to the Eastleigh ranks. Having gone on as a substitute with a quarter of an hour to go at Basingstoke last month, he landed awkwardly and jarred his knee.
He returned to action on Tuesday night, going on as a late substitute for Bradley Bubb in the 3-2 win over Havant & Waterlooville.
But, on the evidence of Eastleigh's 4-0 slaying of Sutton United two weeks ago, he knows he has a lot to do to dislodge the likes of hat-trick hero Bubb and Damian Scannell from the side.
"The squad's so competitive now, I don't know what's going to happen," he said.
"It's a big old squad and it tells you something that Chris Flood didn't even get into the 16 for the Sutton game.
"All that competition should bring out the best in people and hopefully I will get some time on the pitch.
"I thought the lads did brilliantly against Sutton," he added. "It was a lot better than against Salisbury (a 1-1 draw).
"We passed the ball well against Salisbury, but didn't seem to have a cutting edge. But we definitely had that against Sutton.
"Bradley Bubb was fantastic. He had three chances and scored three goals. You can't argue with that.
"I guess all I can do is stay positive and confident and see what happens."
Comments
Post a Comment