Games in hand or points on the board? Denton favours Worksop's position

Worksop Town FC v Handsworth Parramore FC, pictured is Matthew Reay

It’s a position boss Craig Denton prefers to that of teams above the Tigers with more games played and more points on the board.

His men have four games in hand than current leaders Hemsworth Miners Welfare and at least two in hand over every other side above them in the table.

“We’ll look at that and think if we win our games in hand we’ll look to go top,” he said.

“Then there’s that added pressure that you’ve got to win the games.

“But would I rather be in this position than where some other clubs are further up the table? I think I would.

“We’ve come up against some very good sides, Handsworth, Brid and Knaresborough.

“If we do win those games, we’ll be right up there.

“The table doesn’t lie, we’ve got games in hand and we’ll try and win those games.”

One of the teams above them is Saturday’s hosts Maltby Main.

The Miners sit sixth, four points ahead of Worksop having played a game more.

Denton predicts the kind of tough test the Tigers have faced in recent seasons.

The two sides have drawn three of their last four meetings in NCEL action.

“I think we’ve got to expect what you usually get from a Maltby side,” he said.

“They’re going to be powerful and strong, with a lot of resilience.

“They’ve got good quality players, players who run through brick walls and really fight.

“That’s going to be the challenge on Saturday.

“We’ve got to try and stop their quality players, stop them getting shots, corners, free-kicks and if we can try and defend a little bit better than we have in recent weeks, we certainly know we can put the ball in the back of the net.”

Worksop go into the game on the back of a three-game unbeaten run, having drawn 3-3 with Knaresborough on Saturday and beaten Sheffield FC 3-1 in the Sheffield Senior Cup in midweek.

“That takes us into Saturday in a positive way,” added Denton.