AFC Sudbury boss Marc Abbott admits Ryan Henshaw and Ben Bradley rested at Stratford Town for targeted win at relegation rival Bromsgrove Sporting

AFC Sudbury manager Marc Abbott admitted to having an eye on protecting players for another big game against a relegation rival in the wake of Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at promotion-chasing Stratford Town.

Centre-back Ryan Henshaw was among the substitutes along with midfielder Ben Bradley as Lewis Ludford-Ison added to his first-half strike to claim a hat-trick with Abbott admitting to enacting a plan to keep them fresh for the trip to Bromsgrove Sporting on Saturday (3pm).

Their upcoming Worcestershire-based hosts are one place and four points above the fifth-from-bottom Yellows in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central table, having played a game less.

And following a late penalty seeing Barwell, in the first relegation spot, claim an unlikely looking 1-1 draw against dominant AFC in Suffolk on Saturday, to level Ollie Peter’s first-half spot-kick, Abbott sees the fixture as a big opportunity to break their four-game winless run.

“We obviously allowed Ryan to ensure he’s ready for Saturday; Ben Bradley was left on the bench. So look, we made sure players got minutes into legs.

“Of course we wanted to win the game, we wouldn’t travel this far if not but we’re also realistic that we have to target wins that are (from teams) around us and what we’re capable of at the moment.

“Stratford are a team pushing for play-offs, we beat them 3-0 at home but they’ve been massively ruthless today.

“It’s one of course we’re disappointed and rightly so, but we won’t take that on the bus and too far. I think we have to wipe the slate clean and really prepare for Saturday now at Bromsgrove.”