Blyth boss Tom Wade commented, after his side’s 1-0 win at Rushall on Saturday: “It was a huge win for us.’ With refreshing honesty he added: “But it was a terrible game of football!”
Both sides struggled to get the ball down and play,” he continued. “We shaded the first half, up the hill, and both sides had chances throughout the game but it terms of overall quality there was very little, although our keeper Adam McHugh did exceptionally well.
“We always knew it was going to be tough on an unforgiving pitch but I believe we just deserved the three points. An added bonus was that Nipa [Daniel Maguire] came through the twenty minutes he was on with no adverse reaction but Spartans supporters shouldn’t expect to see the best of him again until after another four or five games.”
Frickley are the visitors to Croft Park on Tuesday and Wade is fully expecting another difficult tie.
“Like Rushall, Frickley are another form team at the moment. They are on a good run and it will be another massive match for us. No doubt about it, “he said.
There is a slight doubt about the availability of striker Wilson Kneeshaw for the game. He suffered a dead leg at the weekend.
The Spartans manager cleared up some recent reports concerning Paul Robinson and Damen Mullen.
“The two lads have been linked to Morpeth Town. But they are still our players – full stop. They’re not going anywhere. All we have agreed is that if we have a free week and they need to get some playing time under their belts then we’ll let them turn out for Morpeth.”
On the coaching front goalkeeping coach Tony Norman is taking a break from the game with John Bottenstein standing in.