Duffield fears flaky form

Belper Town manager Peter Duffield is urging his squad to ignore the snow and ice and focus on keeping their upturn in form going.

The Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Nailers have been training at Derby County and if necessary are heading back to the Championship outfit's Moor Farm again this week after the postponment of Saturday's game at Carlton.

Duffield's side are preparing for the arrival of fellow play-off hopefuls Gresley Rovers this weekend after four straight victories and 15 goals have propelled them to fourth in the Evo-Stik NPL First Division South table.

Duffield, pictured, who had hoped to make it five wins from five in Nottinghamshire, said: "With the form we're in, we would obviously preferred it to have been be on but we’ve just got to get on with it, it's winter and these things happen every year. We are indebted to Derby for the use of their facilities.

"The lads are working extremely hard at the moment and that is what it comes down to. If you've got some ability and combine that with hard work, you can get good rewards. At the moment, our effort and tempo is tremendous – it's getting similar to how we were in the second half of last season.

"It been very strange to have been completely inactive and it looks as though we might miss out on the trip to Coalville on Tuesday because of the weather. While we are keen to get back to playing again we will make the most of the enforced beak because the last three months of the season will be busy for us."

In team news, midfielder Colin Marrison's is still out. His three-match ban should have started last weekend but was delayed thanks to the Carlton fixture being called off. Daryll Thomas has more time to recover from the groin injury which kept him out of the Belper’s last outing, the 5-0 win over Market Drayton Town.

*The Nailers are now due to play their rearranged Derbyshire Senior Cup tie against a Chesterfield XI at the Proact Stadium on Tuesday 29 January.