Lee Bullock wants Whitby Town players to believe in their play-off credentials

The Blues returned to winning ways last weekend by seeing off visitors Mickleover, joining Warrington in joint-fifth in the standings after they dropped points at Gainsborough, writes Liam Ryder.

Now, Town find themselves within striking distance of returning into the division’s top five, with basement club Grantham next in line.

And with a convincing victory last Saturday chalked up, Bullock is hopeful the Blues can start to “believe” going into the Christmas period.

“We’ve got to do what we did last Saturday again - we need to start believing that we’re where we are in the table for a reason,” he said. “We’re half way through the season and the lads have got us there - it’s not a fluke.

“We all put the effort in week in, week out and it’s about putting those types of performances in on a regular basis. We need to see displays like that more often.

“We were really dominant (against Mickleover) - we did everything we didn’t do in the defeat against Nantwich. We asked the lads before the game to get on the front foot and make things happen.

“We were on the front foot for the entire first half. We showed real intent and everyone, all over the pitch, was on top of their game so it was impressive.”

Much has been made this season of Town’s lack of goals, with some comfortable matches looking less so due to the slender margins of victories. Bullock, however, feels something has changed.

“We looked more dangerous last week,” he insisted. “They got a bit of backlash from the Nantwich performance and the character was shown by the likes of Jonny Burn who scored our third.

“He’s playing through pain at the minute, yet he’s out there patched up and still winning headers and he deserved that goal.”