Lewis Thorogood hopes that Saturday’s Selston showdown will show how far Pinchbeck United have come in the Uhlsport UCL Premier Division.
The two sides were locked in a relegation battle last season but ultimately both survived, despite the Knights ending up in the bottom two.
This time around, a Pinchbeck win at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field (3pm) would see Thorogood’s side move nine points clear of a Selston side that are yet to win this season and have played a game more than them in the league.
However, Pinchbeck were beaten 4-1 at home against Newark and Sherwood last time out and were denied the chance to rediscover their form after the death of The Queen caused their UCL Cup clash with Coventry Sphinx to be called off last weekend.
“You can understand why the games were off last weekend,” said Thorogood. “I’d have expected all sport to be off, but I have no complaints about that.
“We were keen to have a look at a few players and to bounce back from the Newark and Sherwood game, which is a shame.
“We won’t linger on that result, but I do still want to see a reaction from the lads after the worst 45 minutes of our season in that second half.
“But we’ve had a rest and have a full squad to pick from against Selston, so we need to take the positives.
“Last year this was a six-pointer, but there is none of that pressure this season. They’ve had a very tough start, but we know from last season that they are capable of putting a run together.
“For our part, we can go nine points clear of them with a game in hand and have ten points from an available 21 if we can win.
“If you compare that to last season, it shows that we’re making progress and looking up the table instead of over our shoulders.”
Thorogood admits that, although Saturday’s game doesn’t carry the same pressure as it did last season, Pinchbeck’s bid to move on from being one of the UCL’s regular relegation favourites dictates that they need to win the game.
He feels that the onus is on his ever-improving side to dominate the fixture as they look to propel themselves into the relative safety of mid-table.
“This is a good opportunity to show how far we’ve come,” added the Knights boss. “If we’re looking to move forward as a team and progress up the league, this is kind of game we need to be winning.
“Given we’re at home, it’s important that we come out of the traps quickly and look to dominate the game and see what happens from there.”
Pinchbeck should have key man Neal Spafford fit again after he hobbled off in the first half of the defeat against Newark and Sherwood.
Selston lost 3-1 at home to Belper United last time out.
- Pinchbeck are also in midweek action as they welcome Deeping Rangers to the Sir Halley on
Wednesday night (7.45pm), just days before their FA Vase clash.
