Our feature writer Rob Bird caught up with Frome defender Marcus Mapstone before a big derby at the weekend for Frome Town.
This week, we spoke to Robins defender Marcus Mapstone ahead of Frome's crucial Derby Day clash with Paulton Rovers.
Centurion Mapstone spent four seasons at Athletic Field with Rovers at the start of his career, before leaving for Mangotsfield United during the 2014/15 season.
1. Do you honestly think Frome are going to win the league this year?
“I honestly do, even in preseason I thought we had a chance. We’d just added loads of new players to the squad, all of which were obviously talented and gelled really quickly, so that gave me a really good feeling from the off.”
2. How do you think Frome will fare next season if promoted?
“If we do manage to get promotion, I have no doubt whatsoever we’ll be able to cope absolutely fine. We’ll be entering the campaign high in confidence, and would 100 percent be aiming for mid table, if not higher.”
3. How are you feeling in the run up to the crucial Paulton match?
“I’m personally feeling really good, there’s no doubt it’s going to be a tough game, but we’re confident we have what it takes to win on the day. Going back to an old club is always nice, as there’s a few old faces you haven’t seen in a while, partnered with the fact I enjoyed and had a successful time there.”
4. In your opinion, where could the Frome squad still improve?
“There’s not a single team in the league which couldn’t improve somewhere, if we managed to secure promotion, I’d maybe say we need a bit more depth, especially when coping with injuries, but obviously our eyes are fixated on promotion first, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
5. You’ve had a good season, if the opportunity arose to play at a higher level, would you?
“It’s really hard to say. I’ve played in the Southern Premier Division for a long time with a few different clubs, and if you ask any player in this league, they’ll tell you: ‘it’s a lot of travelling’, even in this division. I now have a young family who I would always put first, so it’s really tough to say.”
6. Where could you improve personally?
“Where do I start! I think if I had a right foot that would be nice, and maybe a little more pace. To be fair though, I’m better off hoping for a miracle than training to improve those now.”
7. What’s the plan going into the final stages of the season?
“I think all we can do at this stage in the season is to keep taking each game as it comes, focus on the game at hand and try to win as many as possible, without getting ahead of ourselves. Hopefully in the end it will be enough to push us over the line.”
8. Message to the fans?
“I’m probably going to sound like a broken record here, but again thank you so much for all your support up until now. Please continue to get behind the lads, as we aim to repay all you’ve done for us with promotion come the end of the season.
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