Greens have not played a competitive match since November 6.

Bethnal Green United were left frustrated after their Gordon Brasted Trophy match with Barkingside was postponed and now head into Saturday’s league match against Sawbridgeworth having not played since November 6.

The Green are flying high in the Essex Senior League and need to beat their Hertfordshire rivals to keep up with league leaders Stansted, who are six points clear, but have played a game more.

The Trophy match would have been ideal preparation for Gardner’s men, but the recent bad weather put pay to that.

“It didn’t rain once on Monday and the fact it has been called off has wound me up a bit,” said the Greens boss.

“Both teams were free on Saturday and didn’t have matches so it would have been nice to play then.

“We have three tough matches this week (Sawbridgeworth Saturday, Barkingside Tuesday, Witham the following Saturday) and we have not played for a while.

“At training tonight (Tuesday) we will do a bit of running to keep our fitness levels up for Saturday.”

The Greens have already faced Town this season, beating them 4-0 in the Second Round of the Gordon Brasted Trophy, but Garnder is wary of a recent upturn in their opponent’s fortunes.

“They have done okay lately and it seems like they may have a different team to when we played them,” Gardner said.

“We have to go there with an open mind and make sure there are no slip-ups.”

To help make sure it does not happen, Gardner has enlisted the help of another striker and a holding midfielder.

“Josh Coulson is a striker we have brought in from Ilford and fills the target man void we had when Aaron gayle left us, while Tamba Ngonga has joined from Dulwich Hamlets and gives us competition in the centre of midfield.”