Runcorn Linnets manager Billy Paynter says they are confident going into this weekend’s clash with Hednesford Town – but adds they are wary of their threat.
Linnets are second going into this weekend’s round of fixtures after beating Stalybridge Celtic 1-0, capitalising on a third game without a win for Prescot Cables.
Sean O’Mahony scored the only goal of the game against their playoff rivals, and with Vauxhall Motors earning a point against league-leaders Leek Town – reducing their lead at the top to nine points.
“We knew coming off the back of a good win at Clitheroe, we had to keep the lads focused on the task ahead,” Paynter told Off The Park. “Stalybridge away is a tough game, certainly when they haven’t played a home game in over a month – they were wanting to put a show on.
“But the lads had a solid performance, defensively, it was a classic away win, you could say.”
Their win over James Kinsey’s side extended their unbeaten run to four matches without a defeat. After an indifferent run of results at the turn of the year, Paynter called on his players to eradicate their inconsistency and show their title credentials.
So far they have done that but against teams at the lower end of the table, their record has been patchy – losing to Newcastle Town in Neil Baker’s first game in change. This weekend, they face Hednesford – who are second from bottom and have also endured change in the dugout with Paul Moore being installed as manager.
It’s another challenge for Linnets and while the temperature rises in the promotion race, Paynter is only focused on how his side perform. He said: “We will continue to ask for a run, there’s still a long way to go, we can only focus on ourselves and other results take care of themselves.
“You see Leek drop points, a great result for Vauxhall Motors but there is still a long way to go. It was a good weekend, if you’re going to finish in the playoffs, you want to finish as high as you can, but we’ve got 11 or so games to go, plenty of points to play for.
“With the fixtures of other teams, it’s a hard run-in but we’ve got hard games, we show everyone the respect they deserve and work hard behind the scenes hopefully that can put us in a good enough position.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game. They’re second from bottom but they’ve signed good players but our main focus is on us, Stalybridge took it out of us – it was a tough game, on a heavy pitch. If we can make our home ground a fortress in our remaining games, it’ll be fantastic.
“The away game against Hednesford, we were battling injuries and it was a bit of a mismatch, we were a bit light.
“Now, we’ve built a good enough squad and if one or two go out, it’ll be like-for-like going in. The crowd have got that belief that we’re getting close, for me and the players, it’s a confidence boost that they’ve got the belief too, it’s got the fire in their bellies to challenge and push on.
“We’re going into games confident but we’ve still got to do the basics right, let the natural ability of players to shine through and be match-winners.”
[Featured image: Neil Phillip Thornton]
