His team may have exited the FA Trophy on Saturday, but Farsley Celtic head coach Clayton Donaldson says there were a lot of positives to take from the performance.
The Celts slipped to a 4-2 defeat against an experienced Radcliffe, with Ben Atkinson and Jordan Carroll on the scoresheet for the home side, but players still managed to impress the gaffer.
“We set out to win the game and progress,” said Clayton. “I thought the lads did really well at times. Yes, the result wasn’t what we wanted and we got punished for a couple of errors.
“They were clinical with their chances. It’s disappointing to get knocked out, in cup games you always want to progress and go on a run, but we’ve suffered a lot of injuries and suspensions recently.
“I was able to put together a team that played quite well against an experienced side who are flying in their league.”
Isaac Robinson picked up a nasty-looking injury inside the opening few minutes of the game, and Clayton said it’s a concern for the lad: “We are struggling with injuries and suspensions and in the first few minutes you’ve got to make a sub. It’s the story of our month really.”
Clayton said the young forward had twisted his knee and was due to have a scan today.
Tomorrow’s visitors Spennymoor have made a good start to their league campaign and are sitting in fourth place in the league – but the Celts have beaten Boston United and Buxton and drawn at Southport to put the lads in good league form.
“It’ll be a tough game. They’re a good side, but we got our first win of the season at The Citadel last week and we want to keep that going now.
“I’ve been dusting down the players and looking at the squad to see who is fit enough for Tuesday. But we go into it with confidence off the back of seven points from nine in our last three games.
“We’ve come into some form at the right time in the league and we want to keep that going.”
Kick-off time
The match kicks off at The Citadel at 7.45pm.
Team news
The Celts have selection decisions to make ahead of the game, with a mounting list of injuries and suspensions to contend with. There were eight absentees against Radcliffe on Saturday.
Fingers crossed that goalkeeper Zan Luk Leban has returned unscathed from international duty with Slovenia U21s. Strike duo Clayton Donaldson and Darren Stevenson are absent.
The gaffer will evaluate the condition of his players before naming his side, with The Celts facing a hectic playing schedule in the run-up to Christmas.
How are Spennymoor faring?
Tickets and supporter information
Admission is available either by ticket in advance or at the turnstiles. All the latest ticket and match day information for supporters is available here. We ask supporters to park considerately out of respect for our neighbours.
Last time we met at The Citadel
Goals from Frank Mulhern and Dave Syers had set Farsley on their way for what seemed to be a relatively comfortable three points. But Danny Greenfield pulled one back three minutes’ from time for the visitors and Glen Taylor grabbed a 90th-minute equaliser from the spot to thwart Farsley’s bid for a first home win of the season.
Read the full report of last September’s match here.
Matchday food
We have an array of hot and cold food and drinks available. Pies include pork, steak and and chicken. Loaded fries ilncludepulled beef brisket and Korean crispy chicken. The clubhouse will also be open, serving a range of alcoholic and soft drinks.
