Returning Worthing defender Racine ready and raring to go

The defender announced in October last year he wanted to spend more time concentrating on his work and studies as he forged a career in teaching.

The 29-year-old’s self-imposed exile was extended even further as the pandemic ravaged yet another season of football.

But now Racine is back and ready to return to The Crucial Environmental Stadium.

The centre-back said: “I needed a bit of time away because I had a lot going on off the pitch.

“I just needed to get away and refresh and regroup a little bit.

“I just missed the game. I always planned to come back, it was just a case of when and it just felt right now.”

The past two campaigns have seen the Mackerel Men’s Isthmian Premier promotion hopes dashed by the pandemic.

Worthing were at the summit of the division in 2019-20 with ten games to go before the campaign was curtailed and immediately declared null and void.

Adam Hinshelwood’s team found themselves top in 2020-21 after eight games, two points clear of second-placed Cheshunt with two games in hand, but the season was halted once again.

Racine is now desperate to secure promotion for the Reds at the third time of asking.

He added: “It’s been good, on paper, the past couple of years in terms of results and how we’ve performed.

“It was gutting that we didn’t get promoted in the past two years given the circumstances.

“That’s got to be the expectation as we’ve been so close in the last two years.

“Promotion is the ambition of the club and obviously the players and the staff.

“Hopefully we can make it happen.”

The defender has also done some coaching at the club but revealed he would not be directly assisting Hinshelwood and the first team.

Racine said: “Adam, Nathan (Bowen, director of football) and Cam (Morrison, first team coach and lead analyst) will be doing their jobs but I’m not going to be coaching as such.

“I just want to help in any way I can.”