Spartans manager Paddy Atkinson reflected on his side’s 0-1 loss at Chorley and whilst he was gutted about the defeat, he took a lot of heart from the performance. Spartans had their chances to take the point that they deserved with the likes of Damen Mullen, Robbie Dale and Craig Hubbard going close but Atkinson was keen to take the positives from the performance. He said “The thing me and Tom are trying to do is improve the side and the spirit. When we took over it was all about staying together and becoming more solid. Today was disappointing because there were some good signs. The first half was probably the best we have played away from home but lady luck has gone against us again today a bit. Jack Stanger was pulling the strings in midfield alongside Neal Hooks and he was taken out by a horrendous tackle and that disrupted our flow”.
The foul on Stanger provoked an immediate repsonse from Atkinson and Wade and an hour after the game the Spartans boss was still fuming over the tackle on the eighteen year old. He said “It was two footed on the top of his knee, it was over the top of the ball and it’s gone unpunished. He’s very sore at the moment and we can’t see how long he will be out for until the swelling goes down but we will take a look at him during the week and see what the verdict is.”
Atkinson did feel that the midweek win over Stocksbridge Park Steels had an impact on his side’s performance during the second half but was proud of Spartans for the way they had kept going until the final whistle. He said “It’s tough after Tuesday having put in a superb effort in that game, then getting home at half past one has had a knock on effect on training on Thursday because the lads were still winding down. To be fair we didn’t die today and kept at it and in the end it has taken a wonder goal to beat us but we have a week to prepare for Kendal now and we get look to be bright and positive and get a noisy Croft Park behind us there.”