Match sponsored by BIST Group – IT Supplies and Solutions
After the narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of title-chasing Forest Green Rovers, Mark Bower is keen for a similarly strong display from his Guiseley side when they take on Braintree Town at Nethermoor on Saturday.
The Lions battled hard against their high-flying opponents last time out but came up short against one of the Vanarama National League’s strongest sides.
Bower, who sees Will Hatfield serve the final game of his three-match suspension this weekend, believes it’s key for the Lions to produce a repeat performance against seventh-placed Braintree.
“You want the performance, that’s what you’re looking for on Saturday but I’ll take how Forest Green played while winning 1-0, I’ll take that,” Bower said.
“If you can keep that level of performance up – and I think we have since the turn of the year – then you’ll pick up points, you’ll pick up wins.
Following the Lions’ 1-0 victory in September’s reverse fixture, Bower will be keen to see his side complete the double over Danny Cowley’s side and the Guiseley boss acknowledged he has some tough selection decisions to make.
“Its good to get players back on the pitch, Anthony Dudley did well, Oliver Norburn did well,” Bower added.
“We’ve got a good strong squad, a good strong bench and people coming back from injury. We made a few changes on Tuesday that had a positive impact against Forest Green and we might look to do that again on Saturday.
“I have big decisions to make all over the pitch, Adam Smith missed out because of injury when he was excellent for us at Altrincham so it’s difficult but that’s what you need especially when you’re in a run of games playing Tuesdays and Saturdays for a lot of the weeks coming up.
“You need that strength in depth certainly at this level. Everyone’s put a marker down to say that they want to keep their shirts and that’s positive for Saturday and the weeks after as well.”
By Richard Potter