Brett Whaley wants his in-form Spalding United to show their fans just how far they’ve come this Saturday as they welcome Pitching In NPL Midlands Division leaders Ilkeston Town to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field (3pm).
The Tulips have been in fine form recently, having secured four wins out of their last five – including away wins at promotion-chasing Halesowen Town and Belper Town.
But their last home outing was a crushing 3-0 home defeat against Carlton Town, albeit without the services of key duo Nathan Stainfield and Gregg Smith.
Whaley feels that Spalding’s recent improvement puts the onus on them to set up in a positive manner against Ilkeston as they bid to prove that they can be serious title chasers next season.
“Playing top of the league is always the toughest you can ask for,” admitted the Tulips chief. “And Ilkeston are certainly there on merit.
“We’ve had some very encouraging results against the top teams in recent weeks and months, but we’ll certainly approach them with respect.
“This will be a different test to Belper last weekend and it’s also a home game, so the expectation is that we can maybe go out and play on the front foot.
“With the results we’ve been getting, success has come through being hard to beat and soaking up a lot of pressure.
“That’s very important, but there will come a time when we need to start dictating games and starting with a positive mindset.
“We’ve got a small group of brilliant and loyal supporters who have been making the long trips away and really enjoying the big wins.
“But the home fans haven’t seen much of that, so I’d like to see us go out and show them what we’re capable of against the best team in the division.
“Ilkeston will ask us questions, that’s for sure. Our challenge will be to ask them difficult questions of our own.
“It’s no secret that we wanted to be matching the top teams by the end of the season and get ourselves into the position to be competitive next season.
“This will be another great test of our goals.”
Spalding are waiting to hear if midfielder Stefan Broccoli is available for the game due to picking up another yellow card.
They also plan to give young defender Jack Withers more game time as he continues his recovery from long-term injury.
Ilkeston come into the game with a one-point lead at the summit. They’ve won ten of their 14 games on the road this season, losing just once.
They are also on a ten-game unbeaten run in the league.
