The Gingerbreads break a run of home games with a trip to high flying Kidsgrove Athletic. Despite two defeats in the last two games, joint manager Jimmy Albans believes his side deserved more from those games.

 

“Maybe we gave too much responsibility early on to the young lads from Mansfield.” Albans reflected. “We gave Robbo the free role in midfield and asked Niall and Sam to mark the man. As soon as we swapped that, we improved as a team. The system we are playing is right for us as was shown by getting into the game when we changed personnel round within it. At 1-1 I though there was only one team in the game. The back three were very good again. Their composure gives us a good base to build things on. They had to go long on Tuesday as there were few other options. The difficulty was that without Ben, we didn’t have a natural target man for that sort of game. Gio and Nick worked hard to keep the ball, but it would have worked better with someone like Ben there to hold things up.”

 

“ Stamford got in there and cleared their lines simply.” Albans observed. “Both of their goals were down to errors and they were about the only real chances Stamford had. That was despite us giving the ball away at a phenomenal rate at times. I didn’t think Stamford dominated the game for any periods in the way that we did around our goal.”

 

Two wins over the Christmas and New Year period are now behind Grantham. Although the last two games have both brought defeat, Albans and fellow Joint Manager Wayne Hallcro do not think their side is too much off being a challenging side in the UniBond League Division 1 South.

 

“We both feel that if you took the best couple of players from any one of Carlton, Glapwell or Stamford and slotted them into our side, we would be quite a prospect.” Albans said. “However, the club simply does not have the money in it's wage budget to go and do that. Everyone from the Board through to the fans wants success at Grantham as do we. They are demanding top of the table performances week in week out from a wage budget that is very far removed from that level. Glapwell have only taken four points out of their last four games, all draws, the same number of points as we have. With the budget and players they have, their club has a right to be disappointed with their return. We are not in the same league financially as them, yet we seem to expect the same level of success. It doesn’t add up.”

 

Although Albans and Hallcro are trying to bridge that gap between their current squad and the top of the league, they are finding it hard at the moment for a number of reasons.

 

“Our hands are increasingly tied when it comes to looking for new players.” Albans explained. “ We are having to feed off scraps due to the way the wage budget has had to be structured to keep the better players here. We are always looking at players. We are expected to get players from United Counties League and Central Midlands level as that is the sort of wage level we are pitching at. I went to Dunkirk to look at a couple of players who were recommended to me. They are on contract. That is what clubs at that level do with their best players. In those leagues, the best players are on at least the same as we are paying most of our lads. At this level of football, you will get what you are paying for. If most of your squad are on £100 or more, a £2,000 a week budget, you know where you should be. That is not a place Grantham Town are at.”

 

Albans went on to outline what he feels is needed to succeed at this level.

 

“The clubs that have had success and done well, clubs like Carlton and Retford have done it by building a structure on solid foundations.” He said. “At Grantham we have no youth structure, no reserves and with budget cuts season after season, not a good reputation among players. All of this makes our jobs that much harder. We are left with trying to get the best out of what we have got here. If a chance comes up to get a player we have got to be absolutely sure they will add to the squad. Not just around what they will bring to us on the pitch, but around what we will have to do the get them, who will we have to let go.”

 

He and Hallcro are still as committed to the job and the club as they were on day one.

 

“We will work hard to get the best results we can for Grantham and we expect the squad to do the same, something they certainly have since the middle of December.” Albans stated. “In this league, teams will get results they don’t expect, Quorn beating Sheffield for example, it is a tough league week in week out and tough to get out of. There is no divine right to win games at this level. Just because of their history or the stadium, Grantham do not have a divine right to get out of the league, it has to be worked at. If you look at the clubs who have had success, it is something that has been built. It is not easy to come in to a club and get instant success, it takes time and hard work to get it.”

 

Grantham’s opponents on Saturday are one of those clubs for who results haven’t gone their way recently. Kidsgrove have only picked up one point from their last four games. Games against Glapwell, Carlton Town, Mickleover Sports and Witton Town have seen the Groves’ fortunes take a dive. The performance of teams around them, however, means they are still in touch with the top few, despite being in seventh place.

 

Saturday finds Niall O’Rafferty missing for the Gingerbreads. The midfielder suffered some ligament damage after a tackle late on in the game on Tuesday night. Dave Frecklington, Danny Hargreaves and Danny Brooks give Grantham options in the centre of midfield. Ben Saunders returns to compete for a place up front.

 

“Right wing back gives us a bit of a headache.” Albans said. “Lee Potts has done brilliantly. As a left footed player on the right and out of position, he does everything defensively you want. Possibly too much as he doesn’t want to make defensive errors. Danny is the opposite; his natural game is going forward, not defending. It is an area we are looking at.”

 

Squad: Richard Stainsby, Sam Saunders, Gary Sucharewycz, Wayne Hallcro, Alistair Asher, Billy Stubbs, Danny Brooks, Danny Hargreaves, Dave Frecklington, Ian Robinson, Dennis Rhule, Olly Dyson, Lee Potts, Sam Persicoe, Gio Carchedi, Ben Saunders, Nick Langford, Greg Smith.