“I’m really pleased by the back-to-back wins. It’s a difficult thing to achieve in a difficult league where there are no easy games,” Clayton said. “It shows we are back on track and the six points have been a huge boost after we lost to Darlington last Saturday.
“I felt on Tuesday {against Boston] we were back to our old selves. I was happy we won, that we played some good football and that we won our battles all over the pitch. If you do that then you will win games. Saturday [against Buxton] was more about grinding out a result, we had to come from behind and that shows we’ve got character and team spirit and it’s always good too see that.”
Clayton has been critical about the standard of refereeing in the league this season and yesterday was left frustrated with some of the decisions.
He pointed to concerns over Buxton’s penalty award and also to Conor Branson’s sending off, questioning the midfielder’s first yellow card as he won the ball and said that Isaac Robinson’s challenge on 88 minutes was never a free kick in the first place. The award of the free kick led to Branson receiving a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
“Normally we get punished and drop points when decisions go against us, but yesterday we managed to get the win,” Clayton added. “A lot of managers are saying the same thing about the lack of consistency from officials this season and it needs sorting. I played in the league below last season and there were never any of these problems.”
Clayton is hoping to make it three on the bounce when the Celts travel to Southport on Tuesday in what is the tightest league table for many years. 18th-place Farsley sit five points above the relegation zone, a point behind 12th-place Southport and just a further point off the play-off places.
He says Southport have been ‘rejuvenated’ under new manager Jim Bentley. The former Morecambe and AFC Fylde manager took the hot seat after Liam Watson’s exit following a disastrous start to the season. They currently sit in 12th, having just recorded back to back wins, and are unbeaten in their last three.
“Jim’s teams are always hard to beat,” said Clayton. “And Southport is always a tough place to go. He’s got them climbing up the league table, they’re well organised and they will be tough to beat.
“But we will be going into the game full of confidence thanks to our back to back wins and will hopefully take three points from them.”
The Celts are currently going through a busy schedule, playing Tuesday-Saturday, Tuesday-Saturday.
“It’s going to take its toll,” added the gaffer, who saw defender Tom Allan leave the field on Saturday in the first half with a strain. A scan on Monday will determine the extent of the problem but Clayton hopes ‘it’s not too bad’.
“We have a good squad and I have confidence in the players who come in. But it becomes a lot easier when you’re confident and winning games and our confidence is high. Bring it on!”
