Full-time goal remains Chorley boss Andy Preece's burning ambition for the club
Ambitious Chorley boss Andy Preece believes consecutive defeats to National League leaders South Shields will only make himself, his players and the club even more hungry for success this season – and beyond.
After a fine start to the new campaign, the Magpies were dealt a reality check when they suffered two defeats at the hands of the Mariners on successive Saturdays.
A 4-1 defeat at the 1st Cloud Arena in the FA Cup third round of qualifying was followed by a 2-0 league loss last weekend.
A full-time operation, the Mariners sit top of the National League North and have grand designs on promotion to the top-flight of non-league football this season.
Ultimately, their long-term dream is to reach the Football League – an ambition which is not lost on former striker Preece, who played across all four divisions of the Football League, including a stint with Crystal Palace in the Premier League, throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s.
The Chorley boss admitted he cast a few envious glances last weekend at his opposite number Ian Watson who has around four-times the amount of time with his players on the training ground during the week.
A part-time outfit, the Magpies, who face Oxford City at Victory Park this afternoon, are certainly punching above their weight – they currently sit in fifth spot in the table.
And Preece is eager to see the club make progress both on and off the pitch
"For me personally, it just gives me that little bit more hunger to get Chorley out of this league,” he said.
”Although that ambition looks harder when you come up against teams like South Shields, the only way a club like us will go full-time is if we get promoted.
"Obviously, I am still ambitious and want to be full-time. I want those same opportunities that the South Shields’ manager has.
"I think the past two results just makes us all that little bit more hungrier, makes us want to work that little bit harder. I don’t think these two defeats will derail us.
"We’ve got to go back to where we were before. We had great performances at home against Telford and Macclesfield – another full-time team.
“We had a terrible decision go against us against Macclesfield to peg us back to two each with hardly any minutes to go, but to come back again and win that was phenomenal.
"That’s where we go from. That’s what we are capable of.
"We won’t lose any confidence from the defeats to South Shields.”