Widnes manager Michael Ellison insists that their last two disappointing results are already behind them as they face 1874 Northwich.
The Whites were left gutted against Workington as two stoppage-time goals saw their hopes of a shock victory snatched from their grasps.
It was a quick turnaround for Ellison’s side following their trip to Cumbria and their attention diverted onto another tough away trip in the form of Leek Town.
A 3-0 defeat followed but Ellison is keen on quickly moving on from their straight defeats. He told Off The Park: “We’ve already put it to the back of our minds.
“I said after Saturday, if we put performances in like that, we can beat anyone on our day, I believe that. For us to be at our best, we need our best players available.
“Before Saturday, we had a settled back five but with losing Stevo to injury, when we make those changes we just don’t look the same. The last week has taught us we are light for our squad, one or two injuries or suspensions, we look different.
“We put it to the back of our mind, we know it’s a tough match as they all are, there’s no easy games and we go there to a good 1874 side that I’ve seen a few times this season. They’re just outside the playoffs, the crazy thing is if we get a win there, we need up six points behind them and we’re rock bottom, that’s how close the league is.
“A couple of wins you jump up there, a couple of losses and you’re right down there, we put it behind us, we’ll assess our injuries and try get a gameplan for Saturday.”
After their late disappointment away at the Reds, the Widnes boss felt his side had a hangover from their defeat days earlier when they made the trip to Leek.
‘Tough, not been a great week and we knew it was going to be a tough week when you play Workington and Leek back-to-back,” he continued.
“It was disappointing Saturday to be 1-0 up on 92 minutes and look like we were going to come away with a great victory then to have it snatched out of our hands was tough to take but the performance was outstanding, I thought we were outstanding the whole game, anyone at the game would’ve seen the effort we put in.
“But the game come at a cost, and we knew that, if you get the three points or a point, it’s worth a cost but I think Tuesday’s game came too soon for us with injuries and big players missing – we knew it was going to be difficult but tough week, no wins out of six [points].
“I don’t think it was a 3-0 game, they were the better side, I’ve got no qualms of them getting three points but I think we give them a little helping hand and it was a hangover from Saturday.
“Workington are an outstanding team, we had a gameplan on Saturday, it was very hard fought. I thought we created a lot of chances, we should’ve got that second goal and if we got that then 92nd minute it’s a free-kick that’s never a free-kick, if they don’t get that they don’t go on and win it but it’s fine margins.
“We had two fit subs on Saturday and we knew going into Leek that Max Bardsley-Rowe is out for the rest of the season with his hamstring, we lost another midfielder so we knew it was going to be tough with the position we’re in and squad available.
“Not as a good as a performance, the lads give us everything but lapses of concentration cost us, we conceded eight minutes in and six minutes into the second-half, once the second goal goes in it’s game over.
“We give them a touch really, not to take anything away but I was disappointed in the goals, it was tough, we’ve come away from those two with no points and on another day, could’ve had three and if I’m being greedy maybe four.”
