THE race for the Evo-Stik Premier Division title is hotting up and despite dropping points at the weekend, Warrington Town remain in the thick of the battle.
Ahead of Grantham Town’s visit to Cantilever Park on Saturday, Yellows sit third – behind second-place Farsley Celtic on goals scored alone.
They both trail new leaders South Shields – who have won all 12 of their home games this season – by three points in the hunt for promotion.
Yellows boss Paul Carden has called upon his side to continue holding onto the Mariners’ coattails – starting by gaining maximum points against Grantham.
However, he is expecting another fierce battle against the Gingerbreads, who beat Town in last year’s play-off semi-final but have found this season more of a struggle as they sit 15th.
“We have to stay in striking distance,” he said.
“I said it last week against Lancaster – everybody is fighting for points for different reasons.
“We are fighting to stay at the top, those in the middle are fighting to nick the play-offs and those at the bottom are fighting to stay in the division.
“It’s going to be a battle, but if we make hard work of it again we’re going to be scrapping for another point.”
Yellows were fortunate to gain a point against relegation-threatened Lancaster City at Cantilever Park on Saturday as Tony Gray’s stoppage-time free kick secured a 1-1 draw.
Yellows dropped points in a 1-1 draw at home to Lancaster City on Saturday. Picture by John Hopkins
With the way results around them turned out, a victory would have put Town in outright second place and just one point behind South Shields.
However, Carden insists the game does not represent a missed opportunity for his side.
“People are going to throw salt and vinegar on the situation,” he said.
“People are going to say Lancaster was a missed opportunity, but if they were at the game they would know it was a positive point given the way we played.
“We’ve got more quality than we showed on Saturday.
“We’ve got to be better with our decision-making and make sure we understand what we need to do in-game because it changes all the time.
“We have to deal with things as they are happening.”
Kick off for Warrington Town v Grantham Town on Saturday is at 3pm.
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