RYMAN ONE NORTH: Cult figure Dan Trenkel says watching his players develop gives him the biggest sense of pride, after he surpassed 150 games in charge of Great Wakering Rovers.

Since making his debut at the club in 2001, aged 17, he has gone on to make more than 400 appearances for Rovers and tomorrow will mark his 151st game in charge of the club he loves.

Wakering won 5-3 against Maldon & Tiptree to triumph in his 150th game at the helm last week, and Trenkel marked the occasion with a goal.

But the Rovers talisman says he hasn’t given too much thought to the landmark, choosing instead to concentrate on tomorrow’s game against Cheshunt.

“I haven’t thought about it too much to be honest,” he said. “Management is so unforgiving in its nature that it doesn’t really give you any time to sit and reflect on anything. It’s just relentless preparation and analysing of future opponents and past performances.

“No one expected us to go to Maldon and get anything but 7-2 would have been a fair reflection. It’s always great to score but getting three points is always the aim and it was a great win for us with some fantastic performances, especially from our front three who were magnificent.”

Since Trenkel took over as manager in 2011, he has seen the team relegated from Ryman One North and promoted back to the division last season.

And the manager says he gets a great sense of pride in the steps the team have taken.

“I’m probably most proud when I see a smile on a player’s face,” he said. “My biggest achievements will be how far I can push some of these boys up the footballing ladder.

“We have some players with huge potential and we have some players who have been there and done it, and it’s great when I see players enjoying their football and when I hear them say that we’ve made them enjoy football then I’ve done my job.”

Trenkel had been aiming to spend more time in the dug-out this season, but has been called back into action as an emergency centre-back for the last few games.

And he says he is a much calmer influence on the sidelines than on the pitch.

“I need to be a bit calmer,” he laughed. “I still have my moments on the pitch but in the dugout I’m no trouble at all.

“We’ve had some tough moments this season already but what has been nice is that my former managers (Iain O’Connell, Ryan Wilkinson, Terry Spillane) have been on the end of a phone to have a chat and, in Gary Ansell, I firmly believe I have the best number two in the Ryman League.”

Trenkel says Lewis Sparrow is rated 50-50 for the Cheshunt game, although Billy Radley (hamstring) and George Artemi (groin) are out. However, Stuart Hepburn and Tony Jacobs are available for the match.

Cheshunt sit a place above Wakering in the table, although three points for the hosts tomorrow would draw them level, and could drag them as many as 13 points away from the drop zone.

And Trenkel said they, like Wakering, were a bit of an ‘up and down’ side.

“They held Wroxham to a 1-1 last week which is a great result and a few weeks ago they were 3-1 up against Redbridge with 12 minutes left and lost 5-3,” he said.

“So as you can see it’s all about which Cheshunt turn up on the day. I’ve got a good relationship with their manager Glen (Alzapiedi) and I know that he likes his teams to play football so I think we can expect a proper football match this week.”