Burnell back to fire Chesham up

The ace scorer has returned from a loan at Weston-Super-Mare and started against Marlow on Tuesday after coming off the bench in Saturday’s win at Arlesey.

Manager Andy Leese said: “He’s got a chance to do what he does best.

“He has done ok at Weston, scoring four in 11 against better quality defenders, and he looked good in training last week.

“He had a couple of hurried attempts against Marlow but I’ve seen him like that before and it doesn’t take him long to get sharp.”

Burnell’s return is timely. Darrell Cox picked up his third red card of the season against Arlesey and will now be suspended for the rest of the season.

Leese said: “Darrell was having a fantastic game but then decided to get emroiled in something of nothing with their defender.

“He is 33. If he was 18 and hot-headed you could understand it.

“You would have thought he’d have learned by now and I’m extremely disappointed, but we’ll be ok.

“We’re not short of strikers with Danny back here. Scoring is his job. He knows what he’s doing.”

Leese also has real firepower in John Frendo, who joined when Leon Archer picked up a knee injury earlier in the year.

He scored his seventh Chesham goal in 11 games in the 1-1 midweek draw with Marlow.

With Sutton Coldfield losing on Monday, Chesham’s point takes them to the brink of the play-offs and if results go their way tomorrow they could make sure with two games still to go.

Leese said: “Last year we stumbled in on the last day and had 48 hours to think about it.

“We’d love a bit more time to prepare this time. We’ve already stepped up our scouting on the teams around us because it’s like a cup game – you only get one chance and if you miss a short corner or throw-in routine it’s one you could’ve stopped.

“I think all the teams are the same though and I’ve seen a few faces I recognise in our stands.”

Chesham host Bedworth tomorrow and will secure a top-five spot if they win and Sutton fail to win at leaders Bury.