The traditional Boxing Day football feast is almost upon us and Manstone Lane will be the place to visit for Sidmouth Town v Honiton Town in the South-West Peninsula League.
While the excitement of Christmas football remains as intense as ever and the Vikings are completely focussed on the task ahead, all precautions are in place to ensure the safety of supporters.
“Boxing Day football is always a nice game to play,” said Sidmouth manager Danny Burwood. “It is traditionally a big crowd, big occasion and a game for everyone to enjoy.
“We had a team meeting at the club on Tuesday and everybody is the most focussed they have been all season. It is now up to us to put that into practise on Saturday.
“We look forward to welcoming fans to Manstone Lane and every effort has been made to keep people safe.
“We will follow all the guidelines, supporters must remain socially-distanced and bubbles grouped together from the same household. Those who turn up must be responsible and abide by the rules, so we can all enjoy a safe Boxing Day.
“As an example of the precautions, there will be no match-day food for the teams. We all have families to go back to and nobody wants to be that club to get things wrong.”
On the pitch, Burwood is expecting a difficult clash with Honiton, who are under the new management of Liam Raybould.
The Honiton clash will be swiftly followed by a trip to Crediton on Monday.
“Liam Raybould is a popular character around the area, knows a lot of players and I know they have some good signings at Honiton,” said Burwood.
“We will be ready to take on whatever is in front of us. Our lads are raring to go and want to put right the fine margins that cost us at Ilfracombe, hence why we got together on Tuesday night.
“Any derby game is tough.
“We have Crediton at 11am on Monday but we can’t think about that until after Boxing Day.
“It is difficult for any club to find rhythm at the moment, so we take things game-by-game and focus on the good things we can do.
“What we do know about Crediton is another tough game.”