"We'll have to earn it!" Sleaford Town boss Tom Ward refuses to take struggling Selston lightly

Sleaford Town manager Tom Ward won’t be taking Selston lightly when the two sides meet on Saturday.

The Greens and the Parishioners found themselves battling at the bottom of the United Counties League Premier Division North at the start of the campaign.

Town may have pulled away from danger, albeit dropping a place to 11th on Saturday as they were without a contest, but Selston are currently showing their survival instinct.

They too didn’t play at the weekend, but prior to the previous week’s defeat at second-place Gresley Rovers they had picked up seven points from three contests and sit two clear of the drop zone with three games in hand on second-bottom Pinchbeck United.

“It would have been nice to keep the run going, but we’re hoping for a positive result against Selston,” said Ward, looking forward to this weekend’s trip to Mansfield Road (KO 3pm).

“I think there’s a lot of good sides in this league and everyone’s beating everyone, finding their way.

“Selston are definitely one that are pulling away from the situation they were in, and we were with them at the start when we first came in.

“They’ve not accelerated as much as us but they’ve definitely picked up and we’ll have to earn it, like we do every week.”

Ward knows his side will be in for a test, despite their rivals’ league position.

He added: “It’s a very competitive league. You have two or three runaways in Long Eaton, Gresley and Anstey Nomads, and probably the young lads at Loughborough as well, who have done really well.

“Then you’ve probably got a cluster of 10 sides fighting for similar spots.

“It’s a shame to see Holbeach down the bottom as they are, but everybody else, really, even Pinchbeck who beat (sixth-place) Boston recently, have shown everyone can beat everyone.”

Town played Pinchbeck in a friendly at the weekend.

Although keen to maintain momentum, Ward admitted a week without a competitive fixture was probably a blessing in disguise as injured players were able to rest.