Spennymoor Town manager Anthony Johnson 'impressed' with talent at Boston United ahead of 'six pointer'

Spennymoor Town boss Anthony Johnson has labelled Saturday's clash with Boston United a 'six pointer' - expecting a tough test from the Pilgrims.

The two sides meet in the north east on Saturday (KO 3pm), with Johnson reiterating how impressed he was by the side put together at the Jakemans Community Stadium.

“My statement at the start of the season was, if anyone finishes above Boston, they’ve won the league because their recruitment over the past few years has been outstanding," Johnson told the Moors' website.

“I’ve been really impressed with them as a side and I was impressed with their summer signings, however as they have discovered this season; as we found out at Chester, it doesn’t always work out the way you want.

“Despite this, they’re still doing well this season as they sit in the final play-off place and they will be looking to go through a bit of a honeymoon period to push even further up the table.

“We know some of the players in the camp down there are absolute quality, the likes of Shane Byrne, Danny Elliott, Jake Wright, Jordan Preston and Joe Leesley. They have an incredible squad of high-quality players at this level of football.

“So, we’ll do as much work as we can on them in terms of analysing and experience as I don’t think their defeat to Morpeth (in the FA Trophy at the weekend) was a true reflection of that side because of the surface they played on and the home side’s advantage with that."

Johnson and fellow manager Bernard Morley are no strangers to the Pilgrims, having managed Salford City and Chester in recent years.

Tenth-place Spennymoor can move above United, in seventh, if they win at The Brewery Field this weekend.

Johnson added: “This is a massive game for us, I’d probably say it’s a six-pointer in a sense that we know that with a win we can leapfrog them, but if they win they pull a bit further away from us in the play-offs.

“Therefore, it’s a case of pulling ourselves closer to the play-offs when we play our next to fixtures against teams that are around those positions like Boston.“