Daisy Hill will look to bounce back from the disappointment of back-to-back home defeats in the North West Counties League First Division North when they host AFC Blackpool at the Plumb Factory Stadium on Saturday, writes Ian Templeman.
Single goal reverses in the past two weeks, to Thornton Cleveleys and Darwen in close fought games, were tough results to take, but manager Lee Hill is determined to take the positives from performances over the past few weeks.
“We’ve been doing some analysis this week, to see where we can improve and see where we went wrong in the last two games,” said Hill.
“But I don’t feel we are in a bad place, there are more positives than negatives, and that is a good sign, although our points tally isn’t really where it should be.
“There’s no pressure on us really, we all want to score goals and win games, but we are well placed to get a run going and move into the top ten, and we are well clear of the bottom of the table.
“Realistically we are going to finish in mid-table, but we want to at least be finishing in the top ten and hopefully the top eight. So we need to treat the rest of the season almost like an extended pre-season, and look to take plenty of good habits into next season.
“We let ourselves down against Thornton Cleveleys but we addressed that, and against Darwen we should have got a point. We had good chances and limited them to a couple of chances and overall it was fairly even.
“Darwen will probably sneak into the play offs, and if we can compete with teams like that, that is a good sign.
“So we just need to try and build a bit of momentum and look to put another run together, and all the time keeping an eye on next season.”
Saturday opponents AFC Blackpool arrive at the Plumb Factory Stadium on a good run of form, with just one defeat in their last ten games, and on the back of their last two games yielding a 5-0 win over Route One Rovers and a 6-2 thrashing of Bacup Borough.
But Hill insists his main focus will be on maximising his own side’s strengths.
“We have to pay attention to AFC Blackpool’s record and prepare for the threat they will pose, but I don’t want to get into the habit of looking too much at the opposition,” said the Daisy boss.
“I really want to hammer home the message that we have a threat, and teams need to be worrying about us.
“If we play to our highest levels, the players we have got should be able to cope with most teams in this league, and I want to concentrate on us.
“It’s now about getting back in the routine and having a good mindset, so we can start winning games.”
Supporters are asked to note that Saturday’s match will kick off at 2 pm, due to a floodlighting issue.
