Storks managers putting in the miles

The trio of Liam Smith, Dixon Lambert and Alex Norwood are putting hours of their own time in to helping the Storks succeed in the Hallmark Security Premier Division.

The new faces at the Ruby Civil Arena have been meticulous with their research and preparations in the early stages of their tenure, covering hundreds of miles a week to head out on scouting missions.

They’ve recently taken in Ashton Athletic’s encounter with Albion Sports in the FA Cup, Maine Road’s defeat to Runcorn Town at Brantingham Road and AFC Darwen’s clash with Squires Gate at the WEC Group Anchor Ground.

Smith likes to be as prepped as possible going in to each fixture and so far the sacrifice is paying off.

Comprehensive victories over Burscough and Thackley were followed up by a goalless draw against Ashton Athletic.

“Any opportunity that we have to go out and watch a football as a management team we’ll take it,” said Smith. “It’s just part of our ethos. It’s been successful for us in the past.

“Those little bits of information could be the difference between winning and losing. We invest a lot of time in going to watch opposition and players so we can be as best prepared as possible.

“You’ve got to be committed. We’ve been trusted by the committee, fans and players to lead the club in the right direction. We’ve got to roll our sleeves up and graft.

“We’ve got to be even more prepped at this level. We’ve got to condense as much as we can in the short time that we have with the players. It’s part of the job and see it as a requirement.

“You’ve got to enjoy what you do and we love it. We are here, there and everywhere. We almost feel like we’re cheating ourselves if we are not going to watch games. You’ve got to be ready.”

He added: “We’ve got to have ambition as a football club. We’re not happy just to make up numbers. Our initial aim is to win every single football match and we’ll see where that takes us. We picked up another good point last week. We showed a lot of character and I’m pleased with the way that we dug deep. It was backs to the wall at times.

“We could easily have won as well because we created some good chances. It’s nice to see that growth from our first game. We’re unbeaten in three games now and we’ve kept two clean sheets in a row.

“There’s a lot of confidence but there’s still a lot of work to do. Hopefully we can put a bit of a run together.”

Padiham travel to Townside on Saturday to take on Barnton, kick-off 3 p.m.