Gainsborough Trinity's Fraser Preston hopes Blyth Spartans thumping is turning point in chase for play-offs

Preston netted twice on Saturday as the Holy Blues gear up for a hectic run-in, made busier by their extended runs in cup competitions.

Ahead of the midweek games Trinity sat 13th, 10 points off the play-off places with two games in hand on Ilkeston Town, with the Robins visiting Lincolnshire at the start of March.

“We've not made excuses with our busy schedule and, fingers crossed, this is our turning point in the season and we can start looking at what’s in front of us rather than checking our shoulders,” he said.

“We will be aiming to get in and around the play-offs and I think we have every chance to be able to do so.

“I think the attitude of the squad and togetherness is the most impressive from the highs and the lows of this season. We’ve stuck together and never given in.

“Some of the performances this season have been exceptional, the football we have played is some of the best you will see at this level.

“It’s been a very positive season.

“We’ve done stuff this year that this club might never do again and created memories for everyone involved to last a lifetime.

“The financial side of things is going to really help the club going forward. We’d like to be pushing the play-off spots at this point of the season.

“But I do feel through the highs of the cups it was always going to be tough to maintain our form in the league with the amount of games that have been put in front of us,.

“Hopefully we can now climb that table and get around where we want to be come the end of the season.

"Stick by us and give us the best support possible each week because this team is capable of getting around where we want to be and there is still a lot of football to be played.

“This team won’t settle for a mid-table finish as we know what we are capable of.”

Preston's brace on Saturday helped his side record back to back wins, Trinity scoring eight goals in four days to begin looking up the table once again.

Now in his third season in blue, the former Scotland Youth international is enjoying his most successful season so far, having made 41 appearances so far and hitting double figures in terms of goal involvements.

And Preston puts his fitness down to the role played by strength and conditioning coach Daniel Solts.

“Solty has been brilliant since coming in,” he said.

“The time and effort he puts in makes everything so much easier for us, he always makes sure everything is suited to our needs and is just a down to earth genuine person."

“It’s my first full pre-season in two years and it’s what I’ve needed after being sidelined for so long.

“In the off season Solty put on some sessions out of his own rest time to give us the best chance to stay ready for when pre-season came around and I think, to say we are a part time team, the fitness levels throughout the squad are incredible.

“That all goes down to what Solty did for us in pre-season.”

On his brace, he added: “It was good to get the goals on Saturday, especially in the manner that I did.

“I’ve had a lot of attempts this season from range that have either hit the woodwork or just gone wide and it’s been quite frustrating as this season I wanted to add more goals to my game.

“Hopefully now, I can go on a good run till the end of season to help the team climb the table.

“The free kick was definitely the most satisfying as it’s not been one of our strongest points this season and we’ve had a lot of opportunities wasted from free kicks just outside the box.”