ALBION Sports boss Rizwan Mohammed has heaped praise on to one of his forward men.
Hass Gorji has been in prolific form in recent weeks for the Bradford side – scoring eight times in his previous six league outings and his latest effort came in a 1-1 draw at home to Silsden on Thursday evening.
Rescuing his side a point, Gorji finished expertly after meeting a pinpoint delivery from the right flank to continue his eye-catching purple patch.
Speaking to the T&A, Albion’s boss, Mohammed, had a lot to say about his inform striker.
He said: “Hass has worked so hard all season and prior to his purple patch he just wasn’t getting the rub of the green. He was missing some big chances and he’d tell you that himself because he’s his own biggest critic, but the chances he was missing were costing us sometimes. We brought him out of the team for a while, stayed patient with him and then slowly reintegrated him back into the side. Ever since his return he’s been on fire and I’m absolutely delighted for him.
“He’s one of the lads who are going through Ramadan at the moment and with that comes fasting. Thankfully, it’s not affecting his performance as he’s looking like Superman at the moment,” Mohammed joked.
“For his and the team’s sake, I hope he can continue this run until the end of the season; there’s no pressure on him. If he continues to enjoy his football and work hard, then I’m sure he’ll continue in this form for the foreseeable.”
Albion extended their unbeaten run to eight games on Thursday to ensure the feel good factor at the club rolls on. Reflecting on the 1-1 draw, Mohammed said: “I thought we started off really slow in the first half and were quite sluggish. Jack Normanton punished us with a brilliant goal - lobbing the keeper from 25-yards out.
“In the second half, we really came into it and in the end, it was one-way traffic; we played really well. We got the equaliser, hit the post and had a handful of other decent opportunities. Overall, considering the fact that we’ve had a few lads fasting since Ramadan started and that we’ve been playing matches every three days, we did well to get a point.
“It would be really harsh on the lads to say it was two points dropped. I’m happy that we’ve come away with a point, but based on how the second half went, we probably should have got the win.
“Silsden’s goal came just before half-time and I’m glad it did because it gave the lads a bit of a wake-up call. Obviously, the lads have worked extremely hard since the turn of the year and have only lost one game since then. We are proud of that, but we want to keep this momentum going and with the bragging rights at stake in a local derby, their goal came at the right time for us because it did make us improve our performance in the second half. “
Mohammed added “Overall, I’m still delighted with the run we’ve been on despite drawing on Thursday night. You have to put it into perspective; we’ve had a heavy fixture pile-up and sometimes been playing three games in five days, which is tiring and a bit of an impossible task if you ask me. We’ve done brilliantly to come through it fairly unscathed and with the results we’ve got. If professional clubs complain about a heavy schedule, then what do you think it’s like for players who are part-time and have office jobs to attend too? It’s tough, but I’m proud of the boys for getting through it.”
It's another massive test for Albion this weekend, as they travel to high-flying Winterton today (3:00 pm). The hosts haven’t lost a fixture since November 26, so it will be an almighty challenge for Mohammed and his boys.
Looking ahead to the fixture, he said: “We’ve always had competitive games with Winterton; we’ve played them twice this season and only been beaten 1-0 by them on both occasions. The first game we played them they scored from their only shot on target. The second time was in the cup and once again, I thought we were really unlucky that day.
“They have a brilliant striker in Josh Walker and he’s the kind of player who can punish you in any given moment. They also have a great deal of experience within the squad, which I feel is one of their main strengths. We are at a different stage in our development compared to them because they have several players who have played over 100 games at this level, while we have a young squad with many players still learning their trade.
“It’s going to be a huge test for us, and I’d be over the moon if we managed to get a win there because it would show the progress that we are continuously making as a club.”
Elsewhere, Liversedge made it through to a consecutive West Riding FA County Cup Final on Thursday evening after beating Barnoldswick Town 3-1.
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