Defiant Spalding United boss has heaped praise on his players and staff after they all but confirmed their status as an Evo-Stik NPL East Division side.
The 3-0 home defeat against Brighouse Town on Monday means that 19th-placed Carlton Town can only surpass the Tulips with a big win at Marske United, providing Spalding are also defeated at Belper Town on Saturday (3pm).
A five-goal swing is required for that to happen – and it is also likely that 19th place will even be good enough to stay up, given that AFC Mansfield have been relegated due to their ground not being up to scratch.
Easton is taking nothing for granted and hopes to have as many as eight players available again at Belper.
But he praised those who “put in a shift” against Brighouse, claiming he was “happy” to only lose 3-0 given the context of Spalding’s situation.
Easton said: “What we needed was to not get turned over by five, six or seven goals – because then the goal difference between us and Carlton would have been zero. We had 11 players out, the aim wasn’t to win on Monday – it was to work hard for the club and make sure we didn’t get thrashed.
“The team was depleted, but they did a job for this football club in abundance. I went into the dressing room delighted at the end, it was a massive performance.
“I know the supporters wanted us to throw three up top and go for it, but we’d have lost 7-0. That would have put us in a position where a loss at Belper, coupled with any Carlton win, could have seen us go down.
“It’s now unlikely that Carlton can get above us, so the 3-0 loss – in the correct context – was a good result for us. It was a massive second half for the football club. We’ve got our backs to the wall and, for a while now, it’s been about putting in big performances for our friends and the club.
“The point at Marske (on Saturday) was massive, as it put three points between ourselves and Carlton. We’re in damage limitation mode and we’ve done a good job.
“The club has to aspire to do better in the future, especially at home. But we’re in a hole at the moment and staying up by any means necessary is the goal.
“We understand the frustrations of those in the crowd, but we’ve been in a very tough situation and we’ve almost achieved our goal of staying up. Unless we lose heavily at Belper and they go to Marske and win two or three nil, we’ll be OK.
“Everybody has been working hard. The chairman has worked hard behind the scenes, the management team have been doing all they can, our physio Rich has been doing overtime trying to get players on the pitch and the players are putting a shift in.
“People don’t know the full situation we’ve been dealing with. We’ve had to manage a tough situation but we’re almost there.”
Whatever the result on Saturday, it is highly likely that Spalding will stay up due to AFC Mansfield’s relegation – but the league has yet to confirm their stance.
