Midfielder Paul Robinson stressed that Spartans must take three points rather than the one they took against Stafford Rangers if they are to hammer home their play off credentials. A late equaliser by Rangers substitute Daniel Cope ensured the home side sneaked a point where Spartans looked odds on to take all three, something former Whitley Bay man Robinson insisted they must make up for in the home double header with Buxton and AFC Fylde.
“We need to get points on the board and we need three points not one like we have taken today. It’s a big couple of weeks for us with the two home games against Buxton and Fylde so we have to make sure we take three points in both games, these are all big games, almost like cup finals so we have to make sure we get the results we want”
Missed chances were to cost Spartans at Marston Road with Robinson insisting they had “enough chances to win two games”. That is a point of view that is hard to disagree with as Tom Wade’s men created seven or eight golden opportunities to seal three points but the midfielder wanted his side to focus on the positives rather than thinking about what might have been.
“It’s two points dropped for certain. I think we had enough chances to win two games there to be honest but they stuck in and were grinding away. It is disappointing but we have to take the positives away from the game and for me there were plenty of them”
One of the biggest challenges Spartans faced was coming to terms with an ever worsening pitch after a week of rain in Staffordshire. Surprisingly the pitch passed an 8am pitch inspection and looked in decent condition as kick off approached, only for another downpour to further sodden the surface but Robinson felt Spartans adapted well after a shaky start.
“The pitch was interesting to say the least but we played some pretty good stuff I thought. Despite the pitch we looked to get the ball down and play it the way we liked to. We have to take that into next week into what is a massive game with Buxton”