Southport manager Liam Watson was pleased to see a reaction from their defeat to Marine as he set out Gloucester City demand.
The Yellows fired nine past North West Counties side Ashton Athletic to book their place in the Lancashire Challenge Cup final just 48 hours after they were humbled by Neil Young’s Mariners.
But now their attention returns to the National League North where they host playoff chasers with Watson’s side looking to continue their unbeaten run – which currently stands at five matches.
“I’m pleased we won, I’m pleased that we turned up, scored some goals and I’m pleased that we played it in the right manner because on Monday, I don’t think they did,” he told Off The Park.
“I think they knew how p***** off I was[after Marine] and when you’ve been doing it as long as I have been and feeling as let down as I did, I think they’re always going to react,” the Port manager added.
“If I didn’t get a reaction, you’re probably looking at yourself to say there’s a lack of respect there but I did get a reaction so there is respect there.
“It gives people a really good lift. Josh Hmami scored his first goal for a long time which is good for his confidence, Connor Heath scored and played well on Saturday, Charlie Munro scored against his old club and for Niall to score five in a game, it’s a special occasion,” he said on the win at Leyland.
“I can accept getting beat because it’s a game at the end of the day, I can’t expect being outworked, I just can’t accept it.
“That’s the disappointment but the Liverpool Senior Cup has gone, we’re in a final so we’ve got a load of league games to get through to play in four weeks which is a big ask on anyone.
“All our players will get games that’s for sure, I’d like to think there will be better performances to come in the league. We’re five unbeaten, nine points out of the last five games – that’s a good run – if we can keep replicating, who knows where it takes us.”
Seven points separate Southport and Saturday’s opponents with the hosts having two games in hand over Steve King’s side.
Watson continued: “We need to make sure we work harder or at least as hard as the opposition and leave nothing out there. If we can score a couple of goals, keep a clean sheet, if we keep clean sheets, we’re going to end up winning more games than we’ll lose.
“If you can beat them, you’ve got two games in hand on them but if you draw or lose, it’s over, you’re not catching them. Gloucester are seven points ahead of us but they’re not in the playoff places, they’re [the playoffs] nine points ahead of us but one game at a time, we’ve got to deal with Gloucester and go from there.
“Since Steve [King] went in there, I think everyone thought It would fall apart but he’s a successful manager. It’s never going to be an easy game, we were 2-0 up at Gloucester and managed to throw it away so we certainly owe them one on that. We need to make sure we’re on the front foot and get at them.
“I think having Jordan [Archer] back is a huge help that’s not taking anything away from Connor because when the two of them have played we’ve scored goals. As we currently stand, it’d be nice to have them both out on the pitch at the same time,” he hinted.
[Featured image: Julia Urwin – Southport FC]
