Tom Crozier insists that Pinchbeck United aren’t thinking about being involved in a relegation battle ahead of what already looks like a crunch clash at Sleaford Town on Saturday (3pm).
The Knights make the trip to Eslaforde Park looking for their first win of the season against a Sleaford side that are pointless after four games.
The South Lincolnshire duo are likely to be battling it out to avoid the drop, but Crozier – who saw his side beaten 7-0 by Boston Town last time out – doesn’t see things that way.
He said “We treat every game the same – if you’re not at it in this league you will get punished.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s top of the league or a team fighting relegation, if you don’t turn up and put a shift in then don’t expect to come away with anything.
“That’s why Sleaford will get our full respect on Saturday and we’ll approach the game the same as we do any other.
“I’ve personally watched them twice in the last few weeks and I know it’s not going to be an easy game.
“Our aim this season is not to be in a relegation battle and I’m confident that we’ve got the players this season to go and climb the league.”
On the Boston Town thrashing, Crozier praised his side for refusing to give up amid serious adversity.
He added: “It was just one of those nights. We looked to be in the game for the first 20 minutes and looked like we could cause them problems.
“But they scored a typical Boston goal with Lee Beeson putting in a quality ball – which we had talked about before the game – and we didn’t react quick enough to clear the seconds.
“After that there were a few sloppy goals that could easily be prevented and it was basically game over. Credit to Town they were ruthless, but we continued to play football and our heads never seemed to drop.
“We just didn’t do the basics well enough and against experienced UCL sides like that if you don’t do that you will get punished.”
Pinchbeck skipper Dan Worthington returns for the Sleaford game.
Last Saturday’s home fixture with Quorn was rained off.