DARREN KELLY: Confident we will bounce back at Basford

It wasn’t a good performance by any stretch, but I wouldn’t say we were poor.

The pitch wasn’t ideal, but that shouldn’t be an excuse and one thing we definitely have to work on for next season is making sure we can adapt between the artificial pitches and the more challenging, grass surfaces.

We need to move on swiftly from Ashton now and make sure we improve for our games at Basford United and then Marske United on Tuesday.

I have no fear whatsoever of going to Basford and getting a win.

I have great faith in this group of players and the work ethic they have and I’m sure we will put in a strong performance and bounce back.

Until it is mathematically impossible for us to sneak into a play-off spot, we won’t give up pushing.

We still have a lot to play for and I’m keen for us to make sure we keep our performance levels high.

That will be very key to us trying to get a positive result from our North Riding Cup semi-final tie at Marske United on Tuesday night.

It is a very, very tough place to go and no more so than on a Tuesday night for a semi-final.

It is a match that we want to win and a competition to win - so we will be going there with as strong a side as possible in order to try and book our place in the final.

The club have done well in this competition in recent years and it would great to be able to secure another final at The Riverside for our supporters again.

We’ll be without Isaac Assenso for the near future and potentially won’t see him again this season unfortunately and it looks like Chris Dawson will also be out of action for around three to four weeks, which is a big blow for us.

Josh Barrett is still struggling a little bit and we will need to assess him heading into the Basford game.

We will also be without Tom Allan and Harry Spratt for Tuesday night as they’ll be cup tied.

That leaves us a little light in the centre-back area given injuries to Isaac and with Josh struggling a little bit.

I’m still always on the hunt for reinforcements and should the right player become available we won’t hesistate to bring them into the club.