Iron miss out on prize money

8:50am Wednesday 8th October 2008

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Lee Patterson has admitted Braintree Town’s recent cup exits will limit his power in the transfer market.

But now the Iron are out of the FA Cup and Setanta Shield, he is determined to improve the club’s league position.

Braintree missed out on £2,500 in prize money, following their 3-1 defeat at rivals Chelmsford City at the second round stage of the league cup.

And coupled with last month’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Kingstonian, the club have missed out on some valuable funds.

That has already led to defender Stevland Angus being released.

Patterson said: “We were very sorry to let Stevland go and wish him all the best.

“The FA Cup has been a big loss for me in terms of the budget for improving the squad.

“We’re disappointed about the loss in revenue, which we would have used to strengthen our squad.

“But the chairman and the board have always been very good to me.

“The players are fully behind me and that’s important.”

Braintree are without a game this weekend, following their FA Cup exit.

It will give boss Patterson and his players time to take stock of their season so far, ahead of two important home games against Newport County and Thurrock.

And it will provide some of the club’s injured players more time to recover.

Louis Riddle, Andy Porter, Ryan Moran all have hamstring injuries, while Chris Piper has a back problem and Brad Quniton is suffering with a groin injury.

After a poor start to the Blue Square South season, Braintree’s form has shown signs of improvement, despite the Chelmsford defeat.

They currently lie 15th in the table and the win at league leaders Hayes and Yeading last weekend was a boost for everyone at Cressing Road.

“People outside will try to make more of what is happening and we are not where we want to be at the moment,” said Patterson.

“We will stick with it.

“The league is where we need to get ourselves right.

“That is our priority.

“Key players performed in key areas for us against Hayes and Yeading.”

Patterson is pleased with his striking power, having signed Danny Hockton from Bromley last month.

He will challenge Gareth Williams and Sean Marks for a place in the Iron’s attack.

“Danny will give us something different,” added Patterson, who will take in Braintree reserves’ clash with Haverhill reserves on Saturday, in the absence of a first-team game.

“We have three strikers now – Gareth Williams, Sean Marks and Danny Hockton – who have all scored at least five goals each this season.”