KITTRICK'S COMMENT: Players bounced back in great fashion

They hustled and bustled us in the first 45 minutes and we had to make a switch at the break.

That did the trick for us as we moved from 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 system and really got at them out wide.

Will Annan came on and him and Wayne Brooksby caused them a lot of problems in the wide areas.

It was unfortunate for Leon [Scott] to come off at the break, but it could’ve been either him or Nathan Valentine fetched off.

I am the manager and it is my job to make these tough calls and that’s one I had to make, and on this occasion it worked out for us.

They were the better side in the first half and deserved their lead, but in the end we fully merited our 3-1 win and it could’ve been more.

That win followed on from a superb 3-2 victory at our bogey side from last season in Hyde United.

I don’t think they’ve been beaten at home for about 16 months, so to go there and take the three points is really impressive.

We had a shaky final 10 minutes or so, but held on.

If you’d have offered me 11 points from our first six games, I’d have taken that.

There’s a noticeable step up in class in this higher league.

Teams have more knowhow, strength and are carrying less players.

You’ll play against sides who have 12,13 and 14 players who have turned out at a higher level, rather than the four or five we faced in Division One North last season.

We switch our gaze to the FA Cup on Satuday and we’ve been handed a very tough away tie at Marine.

It’s important to sides at our level to go on a run in the cup competitions, and even more so this year with the increase in prize money.

We did well last season and it would be nice to replicate that once again and maybe even go one better.

To do that we know we’ll have to play well to beat a strong Marine side on their own patch.

I know that we have a strong bench, so I don’t feel we’d be weakening things too much if we give one or two a run out, but we’ll have to see.

Luke Dean continues to improve on his return from injury and it was nice to see Jackson Jowett on from the bench too on Tuesday.

To get a turn out of 1,117 on a Tuesday night was also fantastic and I’d like to finish this week’s column by thanking them for their continued backing.

They’re a huge, huge part of this team and I know the players appreciate their support.

They continue to turn out in great numbers and I hope that continues Saturday.