Michael Clegg praises revitalised team desire as Hyde climb out of the relegation zone

And with those victories coming by way of a 5-0 triumph against high-flying Hednesford Town and a 3-0 win over play-off hopefuls Stockton Town on Saturday, it’s easy to understand why!

An own-goal inside two minutes set the Tigers on their way, before goals either side of the half from Ben Kershaw and Dontai Gabidon secured a massive win for Clegg’s side against the Anchors.

“When you beat Hednesford 5-0 and Stockton 3-0, there are frustrations that come with that,”  the Hyde boss said post-match.

“I wanted a massive response [from losing against Workington]. Outside of a 3-0 win and a good performance, we need to get the fans back on side, as they’ve been questioning things.

“When we were putting bodies on the line by blocking shots and tackling, we were hearing more roars from the fans than when the goals went in, which shows them that they’ve got a team that wants to be here, that wants to defend the goal like their lives depend on it.”

With Workington and Stocksbridge Park Steels both winning elsewhere, Hyde needed to pick up three points to not only stay in touch with the Reds, but also avoid falling to the bottom of the table, which they would have done if not for the victory.

Clegg, speaking candidly, believes that the mindset of his squad earlier in the season was very much lax, and that they didn’t think they’d be in a relegation battle, but that has changed in the past week.

“It’s just the mentality,” he explained. “From the minute I walked in here, there weren’t enough people who thought we were in a scrap.

“We don’t want to be negative and talk about it, but the reality is that we are, and we still are, as teams around us have won, but now we all know that we’re in one.

“We looked like a team of killers in both boxes today, and that’s what I want. It’s what we work on every week, so, as happy as I am, that’s why I’m frustrated. But, we’re getting there.”