Youthful Birtley a tough task, says Jarrett

"They're all young, full of energy. It's going to be tough."

On the back of a first league win in five, Carl Jarrett and his squad travel into the home of playoff chasing Birtley Town, for a match the boss confessed will be a tough ask.

The Hoops have rode a wave of momentum from promotion to Division One into the latter stages of the season, defying predictions of petering out to remain but a few points away from solidifying fifth place.

A weekend defeat leaving the door ajar for Guisborough Town to snatch a playoff spot, Birtley will be keen to put such worries to bed, and thus pose a sincere threat to a Steelmen side of mid-table mediocrity.

“It looks a very difficult game.” The boss conceded. “They’ve had a fantastic season.”

“I know (Paul Bryson) up there, he’s got them set out well since they got promoted. I’ve watched them a few times. They’re all young, full of energy. It’s going to be tough.”

“It won’t be on a great pitch either. I’ve been looking at pictures of their pitch, the weather conditions have been horrendous up there for them. They’d do well to get a game on up there, really.

“It will be a tough task for us, but I think in our last eight or nine games we’ve only been beaten the once. I know we’ve drawn a few, but before we were on that good run that we had.

“Winning grows confidence, morale, so we’ve just got to go there and give it out best shot.”