Gainsborough boss Tom Shaw admits there's work still to do to avoid drop

Gainsborough Trinity go into this weekend’s trip to Ashton United knowing there’s work still to do if they’re to eliminate any lingering relegation concerns.

Trinity lie in 17th place, eight points clear of the bottom two places, which are guaranteed relegation spots, but just two clear of a third-from-bottom slot which could mean an inter-step play-off match to decide relegation at the end of the campaign depending on records of teams in other parallel divisions.

So Shaw wants to ensure neither of those possibilities are an option by getting clear long before the season’s end, beginning against a side just four points and six positions ahead of them in the standings.

He said: “We know we’ve got to pick some points up and get some wins in the next nine league games to be safe and clear but we’ll go into it with the same frame of mind in that we’re attacking each game as an individual thing.

"Win or lose the game before, we bounce onto the next one, have a game plan and execute it the best we can and hopefully come out on the right side results-wise.”

Last weekend saw Trinity fall to only their second home defeat of the season as high-flying Matlock Town came from behind to win 2-1.

Liam Hughes and former Gainsborough joint-boss Ross Hannah struck within five minutes of each other to turn the game around after Jovon Makama’s fine free-kick had opened the scoring, Matt Yates having earlier saved a penalty from Matlock’s Alex Byrne.

Shaw said: "It’s been a brilliant run of results at home and I don’t think we deserved to lose.

"It was a very good performance against a side flying high at the top of the league and I think we did enough to at least pick a point up.

"We wasted two good one-on-ones which is disappointing, but we’ve come a long way since we played at their place earlier in the season and competed really well and outplayed them in certain areas.

"They’ve got a lot of quality. You’ve only got to look at who got their goals, Liam Hughes and Ross Hannah, who won’t come cheap and are two ex-teammates of mine which is typical!

"But overall I’m pleased with our display – the 3-0 defeat at Matlock seems miles away from where we are now and what we’ve become as we continue to grow.”