TNS set for return following fortnight of inactivity

Saints, who remain seven points clear – and unbeaten – at the top of the table, have not played since beating Aberystwyth Town 11-0 at Park Hall on December 2.

Their match at Caernarfon Town last Sunday was postponed.

Head coach Craig Harrison said his squad continue to train hard, while a number of the club’s key players are also moving closer to pushing for a return from injury.

Asked if it’s going to be difficult to pick the team for tonight’s match, Harrison said: “Our last game we won 11-0, so I think it’s going to be difficult to leave anybody out.

“But the important bit is that everyone’s trained really well this week as well.

“It’s not difficult for myself, or Searge (assistant Chris Seargeant), or the other coaching staff, to sit and have a conversation if someone doesn’t want to put the effort into training.

“I’m more than happy after an 11-0 victory to then leave someone out of the next game if they haven’t trained properly – and I made that clear from day one.

“It’s something I’m a big believer in and I’ve spoke a lot about it, competition for places.

“And just as importantly is how hard you work on the training ground, how good your attitude is on the training ground, how you live your life away from football, as professional as possible.”

Harrison added: “But as to date, everyone’s trained really hard last week. Everyone wants to be in a winning team, everyone wants to be in a team that’s doing well, so everyone’s working hard.

“It’s getting harder with people coming back from injury. You look at it and we’ve got Keston Davies, who was one of our better players earlier on in the season.

“You’ve got Declan McManus, who’s our top goalscorer, and you’ve got Blaine Hudson, who’s got fantastic ability, fantastic experience, and he’s a top centre half in this league.

“That’s just to name three that have been out and then on top of that, the longer term, there’s Jordan Williams, who’s a very, very good player as well.

“You’ve got four players there that arguably would be in most people’s starting line-ups, so we’re getting them fit and we’re getting them back on the training ground.”

Flint, tonight’s hosts, are currently 10th in the table, with Saints 6-2 winners when the teams last met at Park Hall in September.

There was due to be a pitch inspection this morning.