North Wales Crusaders head coach Carl Forster has issued a warning to his side that the recent up turn in form will be meaningless if they allow themselves to get carried away ahead of Sunday’s crunch clash against Midlands Hurricanes at Stadiwm CSM.
A home victory over Workington town followed by wins on the road over Newcastle and Cornwall respectively have seen Crusaders move into the Betfred League One play-off places over the last three weeks, and their next test comes in the form of a crucial clash against Midlands in Colwyn Bay this Sunday.
The Hurricanes currently sit a place above Forster’s Crusaders side in the table, level on points and having played a game more.
Whilst happy with his side’s recent turn in form, Forster has warned his team that now isn’t the time to get carried away: “First things first, I’ve got to give the lads full credit for three hard fought wins including two long away trips back-to-back.
“We’re a bit battered and have been low on numbers due to injuries, but they’ve come together and pulled through with the sort of spirit that will put us in a good position going into this final stage of the season.
“Sunday’s win in Cornwall wasn’t pretty, and I can’t sit here and say that I was pleased with the performance, but on the flip side of that, the table doesn’t talk in anything other than points so we take the win and move on.
“What none of us can afford to do now is get carried away, it’s three wins on the spin, but that puts us back into those play-off places, and there’s three or four teams now fighting it out over these last few games, whoever takes their eye off the ball will be the ones to miss out.
“A lot of people have spoken to me about the ‘four games’ which ends with Midlands this weekend, but to me that’s not the case, we need to be at our best standard from now right through until the end of the season to achieve what we want to.”
Taking a closer look at Sunday’s opponents, Forster said: “Midlands have really come on this season, they’re constantly improving and that can only be a good thing for the game as a whole.
“They’ve spent big and got some quality players within their ranks, having said that, do I back by boys to go out there and match them? Ofcourse I do.
“We’ve got a point to prove in this game, we played them away a few weeks back, and it was probably our worst performance of the season to date, we’re back at home and it’s time we put on a show for our fans and let’s continue to climb the table.
“There’s a fine line between confidence and not respecting your opponents, and that’s my focus this week – we give Midlands the respect which they deserve and have earned, but we also take to the field on Sunday knowing that if we hit our standards then we come away with the points and continue this upward momentum.”
