Goals from Bradley Wells in the first half and a strike in stoppage time from Alex Steadman saw the Nailers secure victory and Palmer was left happy with the result.

He said: “It was a good win, I thought we played some good football in parts of the game, I felt the first half was better than the second.

“I felt that against teams like that, when we have that amount of possession, right decision making in the last third, better runs and better finishing, we could have killed the game off a lot quicker than we should have done. We scored the second goal two minutes into stoppage time but I felt our play deserved two or three goals.

“At the end of the day I’m not going to be too hard on them, the lads recognise what we are looking to achieve, we’re going in the right direction and the lads have some understanding that there is a long way to go, I’m pleased with the clean sheet and three points” he added.

The hosts dominated much of the game and created plenty of chances and Palmer was left frustrated that his side hadn’t killed the game off sooner.

“I felt at 1-0, they’re still in the game and at this stage the next goal is massive. We needed the second goal to kill the opposition off and I was getting frustrated as the game wore on.

“A deflection or a piece of bad luck and it’s in the back of the net and we are walking in at full time at 1-1 when it doesn’t deserve to be 1-1. It deserved to be 3 or 4-0.

“At the end of the day if we have a goal scorer then we kill teams off, that’s what we need, that’s what is missing and it’s up to me to identify someone who can come in and essentially kill teams off in games like this” he said.

The result saw Palmer’s side claim their second clean sheet in a week and the former Derby man was full of praised for his centre back pairing of Jack O’Brien and Ross Parker.

He said: “People haven’t seen the best of Ross this season, the last two games he’s done well, I’m pleased for him. Jack is a young lad, keen to learn and he is going to be here with us next season.

“At this present moment I’m a very fortunate manager to have four good centre halves, I know they might not be my first choice centre backs but when they have been performing like this then they keep the shirts” he added.

Victory also saw Belper achieve maximum points this week, and with two away trips to end the league season over the next seven days, Palmer hopes his side can continue their good form.

He said: “We go to Daventry on Tuesday looking to get three points and to improve on the performance today. I’m expecting to go in and have the same tempo as today, same aggression, but in the last third to improve.

“We then look forward to Stockbridge next Saturday and then obviously the cup final. But its all about keeping the run going.”