Buxton boss insists Hereford are a good side despite pointless start

Andy Williams scored the winning goal for Hereford at Buxton last season

Buxton's manager has said Hereford are a good side and he's not reading too much into the league table, where Hereford are pointless at the bottom having not scored a goal in their opening two matches.

The Bulls travel to the Peak District on Tuesday evening searching for their first win of the season, and Buxton will be looking to bounce back back from Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Marine.

Bucks boss John McGrath, a former midfielder who spent most of his career at Burton Albion, said his full-timers had a "really, really lethargic" and "really poor" start to Saturday's match and they had been analysing it during training on Monday - whereas Hereford were making do with messages and possible an online Zoom video call.

Struggling to test the keeper, changes made at the break improved Buxton's performance, but pushing for a winner in the final stages left them open at the back. A poor clearance from goalkeeper Paul Cooper saw 10-man Marine quickly break and Sinclair Smith score a 98th-minute winner from 30 yards.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday night's game, McGrath said: "The lads are chomping at the bit to get back at it. They were bitterly disappointed."

He added: "It's a learning curve. They're a new group but we should be able to see games out better and that has to act as a massive lesson for us."

Hereford won 2-1 at Buxton last October with goals from Ahkeem Rose and Andy Williams, but McGrath pointed out that the club has lost players over the summer. Of the side who started, Aaron Chapman, Sammy Robinson, Ryan Bartley, Yusifi Ceesay, Alex Babos, Tate Campbell, Ty Deacon and Ahkeem Rose are no longer with the club.

McGrath said: "They have a good side. They lost a few out in the summer. Good manager, knows this division, knows this level. They're a good side, good traveling support as well, good home support."

On the league table, he said: "You can't read into too much having two games played. I tend not to look at the league table until about 10/12 games in and when it starts to take a little bit of shape. We won't be taking them lightly."

Asked about his team selection, which could include former Bulls Sammy Robinson, Tate Campbell and Ryan McLean, he said with games on Tuesday, Saturday, Monday, he'll be monitoring players' game time. With everyone wanting to, and being good enough, to play, he said it was a "great headache" to have.