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Black looking for a positive response

Black looking for a positive response

David Laughlin4 Apr 2019 - 18:39
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https://www.belpertownfc.co.uk

Belper Town will look to end a run of consecutive league defeats when they travel to face Cleethorpes Town on Saturday, writes Danny Bloomer

We trained hard on Tuesday night, had a good chat and I think the lads are refreshed and ready to finish as high as we can this season
- Grant Black

The Nailers endured a frustrating afternoon last time out as Pickering Town returned home with all three points thanks to a 2-1 victory at the Silver X Stadium.

Heading into the final month of the campaign, Grant Black (pictured) is looking for a positive response from his players as they look to end their two-match losing run.

He said: “Loughborough was a poor performance and we weren’t happy with it all, but I think Saturday was just down to decision making and that can happen at this level.

“We trained hard on Tuesday night, had a good chat and I think the lads are refreshed and ready to finish as high as we can this season.”

Alfred Thompson (broken arm) and Craig Nelthorpe (suspended) remain the only absentees for Belper, but Black is not expecting to make too many changes to his side.

He said: “These lads have got us to the end of March still potentially involved with the play-offs, up until last week.

“They got us to the semi final of the League Cup so I think it would be harsh for people to start judging them negatively after two defeats. We’ll stick to what we’ve got and see where it gets us.”

Saturday’s opponents Cleethorpes come into Saturday’s game in seventh place and just seven points off the play offs. The Owls are in good form, having won seven of their last ten matches and are the league’s joint third highest scorers.

Black recognises the threat Marcus Newell’s side will pose but is confident his players can put in a good performance.

He said: “It is [going to be] a really tough challenge. We always say it but there are no easy games in this league, and they are on a good run.

“Cleethorpes can still potentially get in the play offs and they score a lot of goals. They do also concede a lot but they always seem to out score teams.

“They are a massive attacking threat so we will have to be really defensively solid which is what we’ll try and do, as well as try exploit where they do concede.”

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