Toolstation NCEL Division One
Paul Stansfield says that Knaresborough have had a phenomenal season even if they don’t reach the play-offs
Paul Stansfield has never stopped believing that Knaresborough Town can claim a top six finish, even before the news about Hull United.
Knaresborough, along with Penistone Church and Hallam, can realistically catch Shirebrook Town in sixth because they all have three games-in-hand.
If Hull lose their appeal against the 12-point deduction for breaching registration rules with regards to two ‘contracted’ players, that would open up a further place. But Stansfield is ignoring the Hull situation.
“I always thought we were in it, to be honest,” Stansfield said.
“There is no guarantee that Hull are going to have these points deducted. The league table says at the moment that they’re on 70.
“We’re just aiming at getting sixth placed and not looking at what happened on Tuesday because it is not definite yet.
“We’re looking at catching Shirebrook, but we would need to win nearly every game because we’re seven points behind them. But we do have to play them.
“Of course we’ll be disappointed if we don’t get in them because of how close we have got, but we’ve had a phenomenal season considering where we were at the start of the year.
“It is a great position to be in. There’s no fear, we just need to take each game as it comes.”
Knaresborough host second-placed AFC Mansfield tomorrow.