Grantham Town joint manager Ian Robinson says the game plan for tomorrow’s fixture at Blyth Spartans is to knock the Northumberland side “out of their stride”.
Sitting midtable, Spartans have only lost one game this season and beat Frickley Athletic 1-0 away on Tuesday night.
Robinson said: “They will be a tough proposition on their own patch. We expect a hard game and know that we have got to keep it tight at the back if we are to get a result.
“We will look to keep the ball well and build pressure on them.”
The Gingerbreads go into the game after only managing to take one point from a possible six in their last two games.
FC United of Manchester came to town on Saturday and went home top of the table after they triumphed 5-1. Robinson said it was not the size of the defeat which annoyed Robinson and co-boss Gary Sucharewycz most, but the manner in which it came: “The overwhelming fault was a seeming lack of effort. We tried, but it felt at times like we were going through the motions.
“There was not the fight that we wanted. There seemed something missing on our emotional side in the game.”
The Gingerbreads recovered to a certain extent at Kings Lynn Town on Tuesday night, when they took a share of the points.
The home side started brightly with an early chance for Steve Spriggs saved well by Dan Haystead and Dan Jacob’s follow-up cleared off the line by an alert Gingerbreads back line.
Grantham hit back almost immediately as home goalkeeper Danny Gay was forced into a save to deny a lively Jamie McGhee.
The Gingerbreads were left to chase the game after Kings Lynn took the lead on 15 minutes. Ryan Clarke made a run into the box and his cut-back found George Thomson who rifled home a crisp effort from 12 yards.
But it did not take long after the half time break for Grantham to level the game. The Gingerbreads needed just five second-half minutes to get on the scoresheet. Greg Smith won a header inside the home penalty area that hit The Linnets’ Jason Lee and then the back of the net, beating the wrong-footed Gay.
The second half failed to match the excitement of the first but it was Grantham who had the better of the chances.
Robinson said: “In the end, it was probably a fair result. Deon [Meikle] was back to his normal self. Our mobility at the back looked better with Paul Lister alongside him.”
Turning his attention back to tomorrow’s game at Blyth, Robinson he would be glad to have the option of utilising Emeka Nwadike and Rhys Lewis who have returned to the fold, but the Gingerbreads will be without Adie Hawes and Jamie McGhee.
Robinson said Hawes needed to rest an injured knee and McGhee will be out for a while: “He now has a pot on his leg and has either badly bruised it or chipped the bone.”