PAUL Carden admits his Warrington Town side need to find some consistency quickly if they are to reach the play-offs.

While they may have only lost five times this season – the joint-fewest number of defeats in the BetVictor Northern Premier League Premier Division – the number of draws they have been involved with has seriously hindered their promotion push.

They have shared the spoils 11 times this season, dropping them comfortably off the pace set by league leaders South Shields and outside of the all-important top five altogether.

Town sit sixth in the table and trail fifth-place Nantwich Town by three points having played a game more.

Worse still, sides below them are starting to gain ground and one of those sides – in-form Scarborough Athletic – are the visitors to Cantilever Park on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

Carden is aiming to take encouragement from his side’s second-half display in Tuesday’s draw with Grantham Town, where Yellows fought back from 3-1 down to earn a 3-3 draw.

However, he admits his side will be in for a much tougher examination from the Seadogs, who he says have been “flying” since the appointment of Darren Kelly as manager in November.

“We’re not right at the minute and we need to find a way out of it,” the Town boss said.

“Hopefully, the second half on Tuesday is something we can look at and take encouragement from moving forward.

“You look at the table and the sides that are above us deserve to be there because they’ve got more points than us.

“We’ve lost the least amount of games, but we’ve dropped a hell of a lot of points.

“There’s a lot of points to play for – that’s how we’re looking at things.

“We’ve got another home game on Saturday against a side who are flying. The new manager has got them buzzing, so it will be a tougher game than Tuesday.

“With the way the points are at the minute, they are all must-wins.

“You can’t define any one game as ‘the game.’ All you can do is focus on that game and try and get the win.

“When you serve up performances like we did in the first half on Tuesday, you wonder if we do have what it takes to get in the play-offs.

“Somewhere along the line, it needs to happen.

“We need to find a consistency and a level that provides more good performances. Otherwise, we’ve no chance.”

Warrington Guardian:

Town and Saturday's opponents Scarborough Athletic drew 1-1 in the reverse fixture in September. Picture by John Hopkins

Town’s only injury doubts currently surround defender Shaun Beeley (knee) and midfielder Scott Sephton (ankle).

Sephton took part in the warm-up before Tuesday’s game and is hopeful of being involved, but Beeley is not expected to feature.

Following Saturday’s game, Yellows are in league action in midweek when they travel to Buxton on Tuesday, kick off 7.45pm.