Skelmersdale United manager Richard Brodie has expressed the importance of a win over Widnes on Boxing Day.
The Blues return to the Community Ground where they host Michael Ellison’s side as goal difference remains the only thing separating the two sides.
Skem have endured a difficult one in the aftermath of their unbeaten run and they welcome a Widnes side who are unbeaten in two, looking to move out of the bottom four for the first time since the second game of the campaign.
The visit of the Whites marks the start of a hectic and important period for Skelmersdale United as they face their rivals Prescot Cables and City of Liverpool on successive matchdays.
For Brodie, he has conceded that the onus is now on points rather than performances. He told Off The Park: “I spoke to the lads, it’s my first Christmas in charge, the fixtures define where you’re going to be at the end of the season and for us, it’s imperative with Widnes coming up, Prescot Cables, City of Liverpool and all the rearranged fixtures, it’s a massive month.
“A lot of teams are going to find out where they’re going to be towards the end of the season, we haven’t got the biggest squad but I’d like to think we have more quality.
“Widnes are in the same boat, they’re going to think it’s a six-pointer for them as well but we need to start taking more advantage of playing at home, even though it’s not our home.
“We need to make it a bit of a fortress, start to be a bit more horrible when teams come here and make teams not want to come to play us.”
He added: “It will be a difficult task, we have to now realise it’s not performances that matter, it’s points. They’re going to be confident, they had a good result against Runcorn Linnets, I always try and flip every position we’re in and look at the positives from it.
“Sometimes in football, when you have a break like we have, being away from it, coming back they can be mentally refreshed as well as physically.
“They’ve been set tasks that they’ve completed, coming back mentally refreshed and raring to go might give us that edge but we’ve got no qualms about how difficult it will be and that they’ll be up for it.
“We’ve done our preparation, the lads know what they’ve got to do, it’s Christmas I’ve told all the lads to go and enjoy it but on Monday, we’ve got a game to win. We need to be on it at three o’clock on Boxing Day because three points is massive and we need to start games well.”
