Non-league: Stocksbridge steeled in chase of vital victory

Steels currently sit five points behind Chasetown – who occupy the final play-off berth – after a 2-1 defeat at Belper Town in midweek.

Hilton’s side still hold four games in hand on the Staffordshire outfit but he is demanding victory at Bracken Moor this weekend.

“It’s a must win game if we want to get into the play-offs,” Hilton said.

“We have to make sure we make home advantage count in the run-in and wins as many games as possible, or at least make sure we don’t lose at home.

“If we had got something at Belper it would have taken the pressure off us a little.

“We dropped our levels a little compared with the last few games.

“But I’m not going to criticise the players, they’ve had a fantastic January.

Hilton in considering freshening his side with a couple of changes.

His hand will be forced to a certain extent with Adam Hinchliffe missing out through suspension.

“We’ve got some players out on loan that we could call back or we could just tweak the way we play a little,” Hilton added.

“We’ll certainly be weighing up all the options open to us before Saturday.

“What is important to us is that we come away with three points.”

Chasetown have won just one of their last four and arrive at Bracken Moor on the back of a 3-1 home defeat to second placed Coalville Town.

Sheffield FC boss Andy Kiwomya says there is no need to panic despite his side failing to win in their last five matches and without a goal from their last three.

Club visit second bottom Loughborough Dynamo, sitting seven points above the hosts with a couple of games in hand.

But rather than looking over his shoulder, Kiwomya – who has not seen his side win since beating Stocksbridge on Boxing Day – prefers to look up.

“We’re only a couple of wins from the top half of the table is how I prefer to look at it,” Kiwomya said.

“All games are big games. The league is very tight so for us to pick on game out as being a must win would be wrong.

“We go into every match trying to win and Saturday will be no different.

“I’m confident we can string a run of results together.

“As long as we go there, work hard and make sure we’re resilient, then we’ll get a result.”

The Sheffield boss admits he would be more concerned if his side was not creating chances.

“It’s been very frustrating for us in front of goal lately,” he said.

“We’re hitting the wood work and getting ourselves into great chances to score but we just can’t seem to get the ball over the line.

“We’ve got to stay focused and make sur we don’t get over frustrated.

“What’s important is the lads are not down. The mood in the dressing room is very positive.

“We know we’re capable of beating anyone on the day.”

Loughborough ended a run of five consecutive defeats with a goalless draw at Spalding United in their last outing.

The two sides drew 2-2 in Dronfield in October when Club came from 2-0 down at half time.

Shaw Lane Aquaforce will be confident of picking up three points at fourth bottom Carlton Town, who have lost four of their five games in 2016.

The fifth placed Ducks have picked up 22 points from their last eight away games.

Saturday fixtures

Premier Division: Colwyn Bay v Buxton, Frickley Athletic v Ashton United, Matlock Town v Mickleover Sports.

Division One South: Carlton Town v Shaw Lane Aquaforce, Lougborough Dynamo v Sheffield FC, Stocksbridge Park Steels v Chasetown.