NEXT UP....BISHOP AUCKLAND (H)

We may have 10 games left this season and 30 points still to play for but this weekends fixture against fellow strugglers, Bishop Auckland, feels pivotal and we will go into the fixture confident of getting the three points, which will feel like 6 given the gravitas of the game.

Its an old adage in the game but when two teams are positioned closely together in the table, the gap between us and Bishop Auckland, and in turn the relegation trap door, could range from 0 points to 6 points with a victory.

We welcome our opponents from County Durham in what is the first of 4 fixtures against sides around us in the table. Tom Claisse and his team are confident that the table will look totally different come the end of March. It would be nice going into the final month of the season with a bit of breathing space below us so attention can turn to the rebuild ahead of next season when we hope to begin our 4th season at Step 4 which will be a huge achievement.

But, before we get ahead of ourselves we have to take one game at a time and that starts with Saturdays fixture against The Bishops. They themselves have a relatively new manager in the dug out after Martin Gray took charge in January. Martin has an impressive CV both as a player and a manager. As a player he represented Fulham, Sunderland and Oxford United amongst others, whilst as a manager he has had roles at Oldham Athletic, York City and Darlington FC.

Under Martin's stewardship Bishop Auckland have taken 12 points from a possible 24 available. A marked improvement on their early season form so he has got them playing and given them the chance to escape the drop. Last weekends victory over 2nd place Emley was an excellent result and will give our visitors confidence ahead of their visit to Technicas Home of Grimsby Borough.

We, ourselves, will head into the fixture in an upbeat manor given our recent upturn in form, whilst we are awaiting our first victory under the new regime, the improvement on the pitch is there for all to be seen and has drawn praise from recent opponents who have cited an improvement on the field. We may have slipped to a three nil defeat in our last home game against Redcar but we went toe to toe with the runaway leaders for the vast majority of the tie and then last week away at an inform Ashington saw us leave the North East disappointed to only have come away with one point and not the three we deserved.

Another reason to be optimistic against this weekends opponents is our recent record against The Bishops. This will be the 4th time the two sides have met and Boro have won all three previous encounters so will be confident of back to back doubles against the side from the North East. In the reverse fixture at the start of November we brought three points back to North East Lincolnshire with Edwin Essel amongst the scorers in a 2-0 reverse with the home side being reduced to 9 men.

Last season, we won our home fixture 2-1, Brad Wood netting the equaliser before a late penalty secured the three points. We won the away fixture 2-0 with Alfie Taylor, securing all three points with a worldy of a free kick late on. 

We hope to see as many of you as possible at Bradley Football Development Centre so you can witness first hand the attacking brand of football, Tom and Danny have introduced, your support could well make the difference and see us over the line, starting with a 4th victory in a row against Bishop Auckland.

We wish our visitors a safe journey and look forward to welcoming you on Saturday afternoon.