News that defensive kingpin Steve Ward is back in training will bring a huge sense of relief to Canvey Island soccer fans.

Since central rearguard man Ward dropped out of the action three weeks ago with an ankle injury Gulls have taken just one point from five Ryman League Premier Division games and have virtually slipped out of the race to finish at least second in their first year in the top flight.

Third spot is the best Gulls can realistically hope for now and to achieve that they badly need some reward from tomorrow's Essex derby at a Heybridge Swifts side who, after looking relegation certainties earlier in the season, have enjoyed a tremendous second-half to the campaign and are now virtually clear of fears of going down.

After Thursday night's training session, manager Jeff King admitted to being undecided regarding some aspects of tomorrow's line-up.

But do not be surprised if Ward plays at least part of the game in preparation for Monday's Essex Senior Cup final at Roots Hall, where Gulls defend the trophy they won in great style last year against in-form Purfleet.

Midfielder Chris Duffy and defender Micky Bennett are both ruled out of tomorrow's action through injury, but could be in contention for the final.

Tomorrow (Saturday) will see the Islanders pitched against two ex-Billericay players who were on the Park Lane club's books earlier this season - Gary Waters and Chris Payne.

Despite Canvey being beaten for the fourth time in five games at Aldershot on Tuesday, King admitted to being far happier with his team's display.

He said: "We gave away three bad goals but came back well, particularly in the second-half, and a number of the players returned to form."

Fans are reminded that the Islanders' home game with Dulwich, originally scheduled for a week tomorrow, will in fact be played on Good Friday with a 3pm kick-off.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.