Bootle manager Mick McGraa has urged that home form improves as the Bucks look to move away from their blip.
Following a positive start under the former Vauxhall Motors manager, Bootle endured a difficult Christmas period that brought three straight defeats against City of Liverpool, Prescot Cables and Stalybridge Celtic.
Last time out, they earned a point away at in-form Witton Albion as Ben Hodkinson scored twice in a 2-2 draw.
“I thought we were really good, unlucky to come away with only a point, I thought we were dominant for most of the game,” McGraa told Off The Park. “We gave a silly penalty away and then a second phase of a corner but other than that, we were back playing how we were before the blip at Christmas.”
Following the departure of David McNabb, a number of players departed Vesty Road which prompted movement in the market from the new Bucks boss.
Despite the slump in form, Bootle are still within four points of the playoff positions, with two games in hand, and McGraa believes a dip in results would eventually happen.
“We put that group together in 12 weeks, it was always going to have a blip, it just went on a little longer than you like – I think it’ll make us better,” he added.
Chasetown are the visitors on Merseyside this weekend as Bootle look for their first league win since December 23. A triumph over their playoff rivals would reignite the belief that they can test the top six going into the business end of the season.
Barren home form has plagued Bootle this season, as well as McGraa’s predecessors, with the adverse weather in recent weeks which forced postponements, preparations haven’t been ideal. But the Bucks manager says they have to be at their best as they strive to improve results on home soil.
He continued: “We haven’t been able to get on the training pitch, we trained last night, it has been a tough week – we’ve only trained once. It’s not been ideal with the weather, it’s held us back.
“When you have a good display like you do against Witton, you want to be able to carry it on but we need to get three points on Saturday, we need to be on it.
“We need to be better at home. We’re not at our best at home for some reason, we will change a few things for our home games so hopefully it gets us right into Chasetown who have gone a little bit ahead of us.
“We’ve watched them a couple of times while we haven’t played, they big and physical but try to play football as well, it’s going to be a very tough game. If we’re on it and are as aggressive them, we’ll be fine.”
