I do really hope you are right about the club taking action to keep free from relegation. It takes a lot of faith to actually believe we can do that with the squad we presently have. I am hoping that the experienced players we lost were allowed to go because we could not afford to pay them. I am hoping that we did that because the money from the Che deal had not come in and we did not have a sufficient good credit rating with the bank to go overdrawn. I am hoping that we may now have a small amount of financial flexibility which will allow Paul Holland to get in a few short term experienced players to shore up the youngsters fragile confidence. I am hoping some of this will happen but the stark reality suggests that this is a long shot. In the end all we have is hope! As I have said before I think these young players are heroes and if we do go down it won't be for the want of trying! I have been very impressed by how the hard core vocal have got behind Matt and the players no matter what they feel about how the club has been run!

Saturday's defeat at Sutton Coldfield was a massive setback.We now need to pick up points from our next three games starting with Hednesford on Tuesday night. This will be difficult but the Pitmen have lost their last three games all away (Spennymoor 2-4, Stafford 1-2 and Granrham 1-4). This is their 4th consecutive away game so it may be a good time to be playing against them.
Saturday we host fellow strugglers Corby who by contrast are unbeaten in their last four games (two wins and two draws) so probably not such a a good time to be playing them. They recently signed prolific Football League goalscorer Izale McLeod.
We then play Barwell on Saturday the 28th who we have already played three times winning twice but losing on the last occasion. 
We really must start to win games if we are to avoid relegation. 
Once again Ilkeston enjoyed good support at Sutton Coldfield, amazing after sixteen matches without a win.

Despite the teams best efforts, the four January matches to date have yielded no points. The defeats against Matlock, Stafford, Sutton Coldfield and Corby have all been by a single goal and we have scored only one goal. The young players are giving it their best shot and the number of cautions received shows that they are committed to the cause. Having said that, it's plain to all that the team needs strengthening if we are to avoid relegation. There are still a lot of games to be played so there is still time to rescue the situation. One win could make all the difference but we need it soon. Things can change in an instant. Confidence is restored and the team and supporters are lifted.  January's last match is at Barwell which is not an easy place to get a result but our luck has to change some time.