Tulips need to show patience in play-off push

Tulips boss Dave Frecklington believes his side need to show a patient approach to maintaining their push for a place in the EvoStik League Division One South play-offs.
Spalding ended a four-match winless run on Saturday with a 3-0 away success at Loughborough Dynamo.
They entertain Market Drayton at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field on Saturday (3pm) looking for another victory to keep up the pressure on leaders Shaw Lane and second-placed Newcastle Town.
And Frecklington feels his third-placed charges may have to play the waiting game until they reap the rewards against their Shropshire visitors.
He said: “It will be a tough game.
“They’re a difficult side to play against because they just scrap for everything.
“They never give up and will be a hard side to break down so we have to be patient.
“We were patient on Saturday at Loughborough because our fitness levels were good and our quality told in the end.
“We’re a top three side which makes us a target for teams who will raise their games against us.
“We’ve got to get used to that now because we’ll soon be entering the second part of the season and, if everyone pulls together, we’ve got a good chance of finishing in the top five.
“We need to build on Saturday’s victory because getting back-to-back wins is massive.
“If you’re winning two, losing one during the season rather than drawing games then that should get you in the play-offs.”
Spalding currently have a three-point advantage over the chasing pack in the hunt for the play-off places.
However, the likes of current leaders Shaw Lane, Lincoln United, Stamford, Witton and AFC Rushden and Diamonds all have several games in hand on the Tulips.
But Frecklington is happy at not having to play catch-up on his fellow promotion rivals.
He added: “Several teams all have games to catch up on, but I’d much rather have the points on the board.
“They will all take points off each other. Shaw Lane looked like winning it last year, but they blew up and then lost in the play-offs.
“You can’t take anything for granted at this level.
“We didn’t know how things were going to go when we put the squad together at the start of the season.
“But I think that if we can keep a fairly settled squad together then we won’t be far off the play-offs.
“The lads can take great credit from what they’ve done so far and hopefully we can keep that going over the coming weeks and months.”
Jordan Lemon returns at the weekend from a one-match ban which he served in Saturday’s victory after collecting five bookings.
However, Lincoln City loanee Cenk Acar is expected to miss one more game as he recovers from damaging some ligaments in his shoulder after a fall at Basford.