WARRINGTON Town boss Paul Carden says it is crucial his side have a positive Christmas period as they look to stay in touch with the league’s promotion-chasers.

The Yellows, who are currently four points outside the play-off places in the Evo-Stik Premier Division, face a run of three games in seven days over the festive period.

That run starts on Boxing Day when they travel to Ashton United, kick off 3pm, and Carden is hopeful the Christmas spirit can aid them in their bid for some much-needed consistency.

“It is a period where you can start a long run if things go right for you,” he said.

“Everyone is feeling good anyway because it’s Christmas so we need to harness that and turn it into good performances and results.

“If we draw a line under the abandoned game on Saturday, our performances have been generally quite good.

“We played well at Hednesford without getting the right result and we had two wins before that so we’re there or thereabouts.

“Ashton will be looking to bounce back from their own disappointing result on Saturday. It’s a sort-of local game so hopefully it will make for a good contest.”

Town’s home game against Stafford Rangers on Saturday was abandoned after 55 minutes with the visitors leading 2-0.

Carden was keen to move on from the game and took positives from the return of striker Ben Deegan to the match-day squad.

Deegan returned from a broken jaw and was an unused substitute on Saturday and the Yellows boss says he resisted the urge to send him out on loan to build up his match fitness.

“Ben Deegan is exactly the sort of character we need in our dressing room at the moment,” he said.

“I was tempted to let him go out and build his fitness up but I wanted him here to integrate him into our system and get him back into the fold as quickly as possible.

“He’s a handful, he knows where the goal is and his partnership with Ciaran Kilheeney is proven. With competition from Danny Hattersley and Sam Ilesanmi, we’ll be in good shape.”

Deegan’s return means Town should have near enough a full-strength squad for their Boxing Day fixture.

Sean Williams looks set to be the only absentee as the midfielder will be missing until the new year with a foot injury.

Carden says his side need to be ready for whatever this hectic period throws at them, something he says they were not against Stafford Rangers.

“Looking back at the Stafford game now, our preparation wasn’t ideal and maybe it affected the players,” he said.

“We only had 10 guys at training on Thursday due to traffic problems and then had to make a very late change to the starting line-up on Saturday as Ged Kinsella was ill.

“These sorts of things are out of our control but we need to make sure it doesn’t affect us like it did on Saturday.

“The Christmas period can throw all sorts at you and we need to be ready for whatever comes our way.”

After the Ashton game, The Yellows face home dates against Spennymoor Town on Thursday, December 29, kick off 7.45pm, and Marine on Monday, January 2, kick off 3pm, to complete their festive programme.