Momentum is key for Aberdeenshire captain Chris Venske as he bids to continue his side’s strong home form this weekend.
Shire have won their last two games at Mannofield and are chasing a third win when bottom club Stewart’s Melville make the trip north in the Eastern Premier Division match.
Venske is pleased to see his new-look team gelling together nicely and believes a win tomorrow can give his side a strong platform to build from as they prepare for games against the title challengers.
Following tomorrow’s match Shire face Heriot’s and Forfarshire, both away from home, and Venske knows it is important to go into those two crucial games with confidence.
He said: “It’s all about trying to build momentum at this stage and, having won both our home games in the league, we want to make it three in a row at Mannofield.
“Cricket is all about confidence and momentum and we feel as if we have both just now.
“If you look at our team this season there are seven new faces in the side so to see the players click as quickly as they have is great.
“My focus is on keeping the positive atmosphere at the club going and we’ll see how far this confidence can take us. If we can beat Stewart’s Melville it will be three wins out of four in the league which would be a great start for us and strong response to losing the first game of the season at Grange and really set us up nicely for some big games in the weeks ahead.”
Victories against Arbroath United and Corstorphine have helped the new arrivals at the club settle and Venske expects a third win of the campaign tomorrow against a Stewart’s Melville side which has yet to win a point in the division.
However, he has warned his team-mates not to be complacent.
He said: “Stewart’s Melville is a team we are targeting two wins from this season and we’re really looking forward to Saturday.
“They have lost a couple of guys from last season and they’re struggling this year but we cannot afford to take them lightly.
“Looking at their results so far they’ve struggled to put a big number on the board to put pressure on the opposition and we have to make sure that continues.
“We’ll be looking to set them a big target and pile the pressure on and hopefully we can restrict them if they are the ones having to chase our score.
“It will be a day for our spinners to take some early wickets.”