Toolstation NCEL Division One
Alex Nightingale is hopeful Swallownest can avoid finishing in the bottom three relegation spots.
Swallownest looked doomed back in January but a steady of run of form in recent weeks has pushed them up to fourth-bottom and close to safety.
Rookie boss Nightingale, understood to be the youngest boss in the NCEL, has been through the mill this season and he admits there is still work to do.
“It didn’t look good (in January) and it was a very tough time,” Nightingale told Non League Yorkshire.
“I take it really personally and sometimes you have sleepless nights.
“When you’re down there it is really intense and it is absolutely horrible.
“We probably were down and out a little bit but we still continued to bring players in and still worked hard to produce something.
“We’ve just got to keep going.
“It is not going to be straight-forward as I know Humber are throwing everything at it.
“It is our hands but (at this stage of the season) it is about whoever turns up on the day.
“(Against Worsbrough on Tuesday ) we wanted it more than them.
“(Worsbrough) didn’t have a lot to play and we were really intense and smothered them.”
Considering Nightingale was hoping to mount a push for a high finish back in July, the campaign has been an eye-opener for the ex-Worksop Town star.
“It has been a massive learning curve,” he said.
“We have had a lot of bad luck – a lot of injuries for instance and we lost a lot of players to other clubs early on.
“We had to rebuild really quickly and we made some decisions we probably shouldn’t have made.
“It has been tough but we have continued to build and we have never stopped and never given up.
“There’s a lot of lads here who have been through the tough times.
“There is a lot of quality in there and hopefully we can continue to add to it.
“It might have been naive of me to think we’d have done so well so early but I think it is a long process and hopefully we’re starting to get it right.
“Hopefully the success at the end of the season is staying in this league and being in a position to build on it.”
The midweek 2-0 win at Worsbrough Bridge was a big result for Swallownest as the success opened up a seven point lead on their biggest threat FC Humber United.
Nightingale was thrilled with the display.
“It was definitely deserved,” he said.
“We have been like that all season and not been ruthless enough.
“Against Worsbrough we were.
“We were intense and the lads have grafted all season and they deserve a bit of joy.
“Hopefully we can use it to our advantage.
“I thought we were really good all over the pitch.
“We created a lot and had some good chances and we defended well so it was a pleasing performance.”