Enfield Town to make changes for Canvey Island tie

The Towners are preparing for the Velocity Trophy first round tie and with the prospect of two league games in three days looming large on the horizon, the manager has confirmed he will shuffle his pack.

Leese told the club website: “We of course want to do well in this competition, and are not disrespecting it any way, but we have some tired legs and knocks at the moment and have a tough Bank Holiday weekend coming up. So we will be putting out a different looking line-up from Saturday to give a few players some game time.

“All being well, Ryan Blackmam will feature for us, and there will be a chance for young players such as Mason Tunbridge, Blue Gallagher and Brad Empson to impress.”

Enfield go into the tie off the back of a frustrating 2-2 draw at home to AFC Hornchurch on Saturday when Leese’s men let a two-goal cushion slip with less than 10 minutes of the contest remaining.

It had started promisingly for the hosts as after hitting the woodwork and seeing a Sam Youngs effort from distance saved, they took the lead when Taofiq Olomowewe stabbed home after a corner had not been cleared.

The Towners took that lead into the interval and were to double it in the early stages of the second half when, after a free-kick was played to Sam Hatton on the right, Liam Hope was the quickest to react to his low cross.

The three points looked to be heading in the direction of the home side, only for Hornchurch to pull one back when Brad Warner curled a free-kick up and around the wall and past the static Joe Wright.

Given late hope, Connor Hogan went close from a Theo Fairweather-Johnson cross before the Urchins did salvage a point in injury time when Sean Marks tucked home after being set up by George Saunders.

The draw leaves Enfield fifth in the fledgling Bostik Premier Division table ahead of trips to Burgess Hill Town on Saturday and Wingate & Finchley two days later.