The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Chris Rawlinson feels Spalding United need to reach the magic figure of 40 points before they can be sure of staying in Evo-Stik NPL First Division South for another season.
The Tulips, who saw Tuesday night’s game at Gresley postponed due to a waterlogged and snowy pitch, have picked up four points from their last two games to move onto 36 points.
That puts them ten points clear of the drop zone, but Rawlinson is refusing to show any complacency.
He said: “I know it’s a terrible managerial cliché, but I feel we need to get to 40 points.
“I think we’d be hard-pressed to go down on 36 points, but I rather not talk about being safe until we make 40 points.
“It’s a funny old league this year. Take Basford out of the equation and every other side is much of a muchness.
“That makes the situation at the bottom a tough one to call.
“Once we feel safe, we’ll maybe take a closer look at a few of the under-21 players and see if they could come into the reckoning next season.”
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Belper Town highlighted what the Tulips have done well recently, as well as their most obvious weakness.
Rawlinson is pleased with how solid his side look, but admits that they’re lacking a major goal threat.
Gary King is suspended for the trip to second-placed Alvechurch on Saturday (3pm), meaning the Tulips chief could hand Ben Davison a start in attack.
Alvechurch won the Sir Halley reverse 1-0 back in December, but Rawlinson saw enough that day to feel that his side have a chance to upset the odds.
He added: “We’ve made ourselves very hard to beat, which is great.
“The goal threat is lacking, but we’re solid. We have good attacking options – Cenk Acar is a threat in the channels, for example – but we’ve not really got that number nine who is scoring goals.
“Saturday will be very tough, Alvechurch are second for a reason. They nicked a 1-0 at our place, but it was a good game that I thought we deserved to get something from.
“We certainly go there aiming for a positive result.”
Striker Jonny Lockie, who suffered a worrying neck injury against Frickley Athletic last week, could return to the squad at Alvechurch this weekend.
- Spalding’s under-21 side beat Grantham Town Academy 6-2 on Thursday night.
The goals came from Jordan Neil (10 pen and 65), George Couzens (13 and 20), Marcel Chipamaunga (14) and Joe Christopher (58).
Lewis Thorogood’s side are now ten points clear at the top of their table.
