Interview: Killick to shuffle his deck ahead of Wimborne clash

Killick bellows his commands in the rain (Photo Credit: Jon Ashworth / Side of the World)

Tom Killick confirmed that he is yet again to use the Southern League cup as an opportunity for players on the fringes of the first-team to gain more minutes, rather than attempt a cup run.

Killick also spoke of the ‘significant regret’ he has over Poole’s Southern League Cup triumph in 2015, believing it cost his side the Southern Premier League title that campaign.

Speaking to All Poole Aren’t We, Killick stated: “The main people that I definitely will be starting are the ones that deserve it, that have perhaps been on the fringes of the first team in recent weeks.

“We’ve got Joe Wickham, Will Fletcher, and Jez [Bedford] has been a little bit short of gametime.

“Then, we’ve potentially got Sean Wright back, and then we might have a look at two or three of the other younger lads we’ve got signed on, but I do think it is important that we do have some experience as well.

“I expect a bit of a mix. I don’t mind the league cup, because very sensibly they do it very, very locally.

“If we end up beating Wimborne, we’d probably end up playing Totton, Dorchester or Lymington – you’re never going to go far.”

New signing Broolyn Genesini also might participate, in a bid to get the Cherries youngster up to speed with Poole and senior football.

“I do think they’re good [opportunities for players.] Brooklyn may play as well, to help get him even more familiar with us, we’ll have a chat about that.

“We need to take a look at Wimborne, it’s not the most important fixture in the world in terms of the result, but I just want us to play well, and I want the lads that come in to show what they’re about really.”

“Then we can throw everything into the mix, and see what we need to do against Swindon in terms of selection.”

Reminiscing over Poole’s cup run in the 2014/15 season, Killick relayed: “You sort of stumble through it, and we found ourselves in the latter stages.

“Actually, I do significantly regret that cup run, because we ended up beating Corby in the final, and when we played Corby in a deciding league fixture, I just felt going home and away with Corby, they had a numerically stronger squad than us, it just probably didn’t do us any favours.

“But I’m not really worried about it this way round, I think it will be a good game for both teams, and we’ll see what happens.”

Poole have registered Elliot Rossiter, Louis MacArthur, Oliver Mayo, Harry Hutchinson, Tyler Forbes, Matthew Stephenson and Jack Foden ahead of tomorrow’s match, whilst Will Butler is also likely to feature.

Bailey Rowe is still coming back from injury, and is not expected to be available.