Simon Walton on his frustrating start to the season and our upcoming schedule....
Simon Walton’s career as a Stevenage player couldn’t have got off to a better start - after scoring two free-kicks against Millwall in pre-season, he turned heads almost immediately and there was genuine excitement from the fans about the player’s arrival.
Things weren’t going to be as rosy as hoped though, as a suspension carrying over from the previous season along with a grade three hamstring injury has severely limited his playing time so far.
Seeing Walton watch in agony as his teammate’s fight it out for points on the pitch has been a common sight at home games this season. Simon would be the first to admit he finds it difficult to watch on from the stands.
“It’s horrible. Especially at the start of the season when there was that feel-good vibe when we had every confidence that we were going to do well – which we still do. But to miss the first two games and then to miss I think 8 or 9 in total, it’s been frustrating to say the least.
“There’s still a hell of a lot of football to be played though and I want to be part of it, get in the team and help get us up the league.
“It’s been a tough start but touch-wood everything feels alright now, I’m just getting back into the swing of it and I had a good chunk of the last two games so hopefully I can force my way back in.”
With a busy week ahead which includes three games in eight days, the strength of the Stevenage squad will be tested unlike at any other point this season but Walton is confident he and his teammates have what it takes to negotiate the tricky period.
“It’s probably come at as good a time as can be. We could have done without it but that’s the way it is and we’ve got a good chance to get through to the next round and we have two important league games either side of it, but we’ve got a few players back out on the training pitch and we’re assembling a decent squad now so I’ve got enough faith in this group of players that we can get through the next three games with positive results.”
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