Still lots to do admits Basford boss Steve Chettle

Basford have lost just one in their last eight league fixtures, and recently played in a 1-1 draw with in-form FC United of Manchester, with Kane Richards scoring the equaliser on the hour mark.

The Greenwich Avenue side are currently just one-point behind table toppers South Shields, but Chettle admits that the team aren’t getting carried away.

“There’s still a lot of football to be played,” he said.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some twists and turns towards the end of the season. We’re tucked very nicely behind South Shields, but there’s some good teams underneath us.

“There’s Lancaster, who have had a couple of games on us, there’s Nantwich where we go on the weekend. It's going to be tough but we’re prepared for the fight.”

Basford were awarded the BetVictor Northern Premier Division Club of the Month for January, with five wins and a draw from their six league games in the month.

They kept a clean sheet in five of those games, only conceding away to Stalybridge, and Chettle admits it’s a strong league to be a part of.

“It’s really tough,” he said.

“We went to Gainsborough a few weeks ago and Curtis has got them playing really well and their form has picked up massively. You don’t take anybody for granted. We’ve got to play some teams who are in the bottom half as well, a few games at home and a couple away, it’s going to be a tough push but we’ll give it a go.”

On the award, he added: “It was good. We didn’t get the dreaded curse of the manager of the month. We picked up a point at home against FC United, so I was pleased with that as well.”

Basford travel to the Weaver Stadium to face Nantwich this Saturday, who will fancy their chances following a 4-1 victory over South Shields at Mariners Park last weekend to cement their place in the play-offs.

“We’ve got to keep picking up points away from home,” Chettle added.

“Our form at home is normally quite good as well, so we need to win our home games and get some points on the road and it’s going to be a tough task at Nantwich coming off the back of beating South Shields at South Shields 4-1.

“We have our own internal targets that we set within the team and the chairman and myself as well. I think the aim for everybody, South Shields, ourselves, FC United and the rest of the teams in the play-offs is that you want to get promoted.”