Toolstation NCEL Division One
Ian Walker says Nostell Miners Welfare are going to try and make a late bid for the play-offs.
Nostell topped the table after seven games after one draw and six straight wins but poor form since November has seen them drop to 12th.
Miraculously though, the top five is not out of reach with 14 games to go.
Walker knows it is a tall order but says it would be wrong not to attempt to break into the top five.
“We had a little spell between November and December when the depth of the squad wasn’t there and we just couldn’t be competitive,” Walker told Non League Yorkshire.
“Confidence dropped and without being disrespectful to some players, they just weren’t at this level.
“You get caught out and that’s what happened.
“Confidence drops and next thing you know you lose five on the bounce and you’re way out of it.
“But we are still not out of it.
“There’s 14 games to go and if we can ten or 12 wins (we could do it) and we’re more than capable.
“We haven’t got Brigg or Hallam to play so it is about what can we do against the teams around us.
“We have good players who can make the difference and we have a couple to come in as well.
“At the start of the season, we’d have been really pleased with a top eight finish.
“Because of what we have done and the players we have got we want to push into the top play-offs.
“We have got to be aiming to do that because otherwise the season fizzles away.
“We have to got to get the mentality right to push and whether we do remains to be seen.”
Regardless of how the campaign ends, Walker will look back with pride at how well many of his under 23s have done during their first season in the NCEL.
“I will maintain that the Brigg’s, Hallam’s and Ferriby’s are quite a way in front of us at the moment,” he said.
“We will get there.
“We have players in that dressing room that are learning all the time and learning from the experience and getting better.
“They have never played 40 game seasons before at this level and they are learning you can’t have a week-off.
“I think long-term that will see us get better and a few additions along the way will strengthen us.”
Some of his long-serving players who stepped up from the under 23s to the first team have moved on in recent months.
In response, Walker, with an eye on next season, has signed a host of young players such as defender Spencer Gordon.
“A lot of the players who played on Saturday against Brigg have come through the ranks,” he said.
“But we have lost some and you’ll see another loss this week of a young player who has come through the club and done fantastically well.
“We lost Amir (Berchil last summer) and they have done phenomenally for us.
“We need to keep rebuilding and replenishing them because otherwise we have to become a buying club and that isn’t us.
“We are starting again with the under 19s and we have 26 people registered to come training with us from 17 upwards.”
Walker also confirmed plans to sign a striker “who is more of a bullish type of centre-forward who can lead the line”.