Skegness boss is keen to maintain the gap in play-off push

A 3-0 win at home to Belper United on Saturday kept Skegness firmly in the top five with a ten-point gap back to sixth place.

And Rawlinson feels his side are now in a very strong position to reach their ambitions of a play-off spot.

He said: “We know it’s a long way to come at this stage of the season for teams that might feel they don’t have much to play for, but Belper are very much a top ten side.

"We had a bit of illness and some injuries in the camp which meant I couldn’t start two or three of our key players, so we shuffled the pack again but no matter what side we play at the minute we’re coming up with performances.

"It was very comfortable, to be honest. We scored in the first-half and carried on turning the screw in the second, although didn’t score as many as we would have liked.

"But we kept a clean sheet and I was really pleased. It moved us up to third and although Loughborough will go back above us if they win on Tuesday (30th), more importantly there’s a ten point gap now between ourselves and the teams outside the play-offs.

"As the games tick down we’re getting close to the point where it becomes very real and it would mean us having to blow up completely to lose out, which with the squad we’ve got I can’t see happening.

“But there’s ten games to go and 30 points to play for and we need to pick up as many of those as we can and hopefully get in the play-offs – plus we also have two cup games to look forward to.”

Skegness now prepare to face Belper United again this weekend, with a return to the 3G pitch at Eastwood CFC where Belper currently play their home games, and where Skegness were dramatic 3-2 winners against the Notts side a couple of weeks ago.

Rawlinson added: “We know how wide it is at Eastwood’s ground and how difficult the surface there is to play on, plus Belper will be smarting from Saturday’s defeat.

"It’s probably our hardest game for a while because over-confidence is a terrible thing, so we have to ensure we go there with the right mindset.”