​Carruthers: Positivity was key to Matlock reaching play-offs

The Gladiators crept in on the final day with a 1-0 win at Marine while both Hyde United and Radcliffe were defeated, and although they were beaten 4-1 in the play-off semi-final at eventual winners Warrington Town, they could still reflect on a good season.

“I’m a big believer in positivity,” claimed Carruthers. “The plan was always to get into the play-offs at the very least. We were just outside the play-offs when Wayne (Hallcro) and I arrived and there were difficulties along the way with injuries and players we wanted not being able to come to the club.

"But I knew there was a good set of players here even when some departed. With six games to go nobody gave us a chance of making the top five but that positivity prevailed throughout those closing weeks from everybody saw us do it.

"I had a strange feeling that Hyde and Radcliffe would get beaten and we’d win at Marine and that’s what happened.”

Carruthers was Matlock’s third manager of the season. But did he feel any pressure in the quest to keep Matlock in the play-off hunt?

He said: “There’s always pressure as you come into a club where there’s players you don’t know and you’ve not seen play. Some left, and trying to bring players in during the Christmas period is hard enough for any manager, never mind someone who’s new to a club. But we knew this was too good an opportunity to miss and so it’s proved.

“We knew we had to build a relationship with the squad and the people at the club.

"At the first training session in Manchester we told all the lads that everyone’s starting with a clean slate, everyone had the opportunity to prove themselves and 95 per cent of them went with it. We could see there was a good squad there so it was more of a matter of a few tweaks here and there. They’ve performed magnificently, showed real character and did everything we’d asked of them.”

Carruthers says that he feels that Hallcro and himself are gradually putting their own stamp on how the team performs but he is looking towards the close season to cement that even further.

He said: “We moved the training venue and worked on fitness and shape and spent more attention to detail on set pieces. I feel we only need two or three players and with a good pre-season we can push on and hit the ground running.”