Manager Danny Johnson told the AUFC website that he was proud of his young team as they managed to get there season back on track with away wins at Frickley and Burscough last week. The manager also stated that it was important fans and players alike kept their feet on the ground and not get carried away with the fact that his team are 5 points clear at the top of the Unibond Premier Division table.

The gaffer explains ‘It’s great to see and it fills me with pride when the table comes up on Sky Sports News but we mustn’t get carried away as there are five or six teams who can overtake us if they win their games in hand. If we can finish 8th I will be a very happy man indeed as that will mean we have improved season on season since I took over at the football club’.

‘The lads have done remarkably well to get to the summit and generally stay there or there about throughout October even though it was a terrible month for us. Even to finish eighth will take some doing as there are lots of quality teams in this league that haven’t started great but believe me they will kick on throughout the second half of the season. Most teams look to get involved in a good cup run which sometimes means falling behind with their league fixtures. However, once the FA competitions are out of the way the top teams will get busy and start to focus their attentions on getting promotion’.

‘The lads should be proud of what they have done so far but if we are to kick on we need to learn how to keep clean sheets and hang on to one goal advantages. I would love us to win a couple of games one nil! We just don’t seem to be able to do that and it’s really frustrating for all the players and staff. No matter how much we talk about keeping clean sheets and staying solid nothing seems to change. We have some excellent defenders and my hope is that the more they play together the better they will become as a unit. That has got to happen for us to secure a top eight finish’.

‘We tend to panic and give away possession really cheaply, especially when we are in front. We work on possession all the time in training, in fact we play more two touch possession football than anything else. In training we are magnificent and at times it is wonderful to watch but we throw it all away and panic in pressure situations’.

‘I am really looking forward to Saturday and playing against one of the top teams in our division. Stocksbridge have taken the division by storm and know where the back of the net is so I will be expecting a very open game with loads of entertainment and goals. Now I have said that it will be a boring nil nil draw! It will be nice to play a home league game again and hopefully if we play well put another three points on the board. Stocksbridge will certainly have something to say about that so it is important we get pour heads down, work as hard as we can and be at our very best if we are to get anything from the game’.

‘It appears that both Craig Robinson and Danny Jones have recovered from their bout of Swine flu, which is a relief after some of the stories we have heard about over the past week or so. Hopefully, both of them will be at training on Thursday and I am sure it will be a real boost to the squad’.

‘Over the past week or so I have parted company with a few players. Astley Mullholland, Robbie Talbot and Ryan Broadhead have all departed and Chris Middleton has joined Abbey Hey to get a few games in. I am sure everyone connected with the club will join me in wishing all these players all the very best for the future. As most are aware I have recently signed Daryl Weston and I also have one or two other irons in the fire’.