Nailers keep pressure on

Belper Town manager Peter Duffield is demanding more from his players to strengthen their push for play-off spot despite seeing his side beat Chasetown 3-0 on Saturday, writes Nigel Oldrini.

The fourth-placed Nailers travel to Lincoln United on Saturday in Evo-Stik NPL First Division South after resuming their campaign with a comfortable victory but Duffield believes they should have added to their goals for column against the Scholars who had two men sent off.

Duffield said: "Chasetown tried not to let the situation affect them and they played on until the end despite the fact that they’d had two men sent off and if they'd taken some of their chances it might well have been a different outcome.

"I thought we looked a bit tired and didn't show the urgency that we did at Chesterfield in midweek and there were far two many misplaced passes and missed chances which are often a sign of fatigue. We could easily have scored another three or four goals and won by a much greater margin, however the main thing is to consolidate our position in the play-off area and the best way to do it is to win games."

Duffield's squad won't have the distraction of the Derbyshire Senior Cup interfering with their promotion hopes after losing 4-2 in a close run defeat at the Proact Stadium last Tuesday evening. The Nailers narrowly lost out to the League 2 outfit and Duffield praised his team's efforts.

"I thought we were the better side for most of the game and we gave them a good run for their money," said Duffield. "With a bit more luck we could have been two up before they got one back and I thought their penalty award was harsh to say the least.

"If Simon Harrison had converted the penalty when the game was at 3-2 I reckon we could have gone on and won the game or at least had a crack at extra time. But I don't hang the blame on Simon in any way because it's easy to miss a penalty. I've missed them myself so I know from personal experience."

Duffield added: "Chesterfield deserved credit for the way they approached the game and it was played in the right spirit."