Asa Povey has been ruled out of Binfield’s Buildbase FA Vase tie at Deal Town on Saturday, but he stays very much in the minds of his teammates. The striker is sidelined with a punctured lung and will miss the rest of the season.
He has also been unable to work and “is at an all-time low,” his father, Lee, has revealed.
However, Binfield players and staff are determined to try to raise his spirits as Asa is very much part of the club’s ‘family’.
“We understand it (his injury) didn’t happen through work or football and he can’t pin down when it happened,” said joint managers Jamie McClurg and Carl Withers. “It’s very tough for him and we hope it won’t be long before he is back playing.
“Because he has been missing work, the club have had a whip-round for him. We’ve got a great group of lads and everyone wanted to chip in, which shows the kind of group we have got here, When the chips are down everyone will rally round.”
Withers continued: “This is something we are really proud of at Binfield; we are very much a football family. This is a special squad. There is a lot of mickey-taking among them and a lot of laughs. Sean (Moore) is the king of the jokers, but takes his job (as captain) on and off the field very seriously.”
McClurg added: “Me and Withers really enjoy being around them. We believe this special team spirit gives us an extra 10 per cent.”
WATCH: How to live stream Deal Town vs Binfield this weekend
And that will certainly be required at Deal this weekend when they face the Southern Counties East League side in the third round of the Vase – a tie that has been held over since before Christmas following a Covid-19 issue at Binfield and then the lockdown.
The Moles have named a 17-man squad for the trip to Kent as they bid to secure a fourth-round tie at Fakenham a week later.
Experienced striker Adam Cornell is not available, while midfielder Jack Broome is still serving a three-match suspension following his red card during the Uhlsport Hellenic League 3-1 win over Fairford last October. In the meantime, Broome has been assisting with the training at Hill Farm Lane.
Binfield will travel to Deal in a confident mood with Withers insisting: “We really believe we are capable of achieving something special. As we showed last year, there is a lot of desire and resilience in the team. They don’t like failing, they don’t like losing, they have a winning mentality.
“We are confident, but we will probably still need a little bit of luck on the day.”
This tie is being played behind closed doors, but Deal are streaming it via their Facebook page. Full details here.
Read more: “It is just a shame we can’t have supporters in because if we could have we would have had a really big gate.” – The Deal Town preview via Kent Online.
