Matlock Town boss says there's 'no hiding place' for his players in play-off battle

Play-off rivals Scarborough, Warrington and Bamber Bridge all had good Easter weekends, taking maximum points from their two matches while Matlock were held 0-0 at home by Nantwich on Saturday before going down to a 1-0 defeat at Buxton on Monday, a result which all but handed the Bucks the title.

“We’ve played well in the last four or five games but we’ve not scored enough goals,” said the Matlock boss.

Finding the back of the net has proved to be the Gladiators’ achilles heel in the last couple of months. They’ve managed a meagre nine goals in their last 15 matches since the start of February when they sat top of the table.

Now going into the final day they sit fifth and host third in the table Warrington on Saturday, looking for a first ever competitive home victory over the Yellows.

Defensively though Matlock have been solid, the goal they conceded at the Silverlands being their first in six matches.

To be sure of making the play-offs, Matlock must equal Bamber Bridge’s result, the Brig playing host to Nantwich. The other game pertinent to the play-off chase is Scarborough Athletic at home to Radcliffe.

“There’s lots of different permutations but we need to approach the game just like any other Saturday, we need to go out and win the football match and we’re in the play-offs,” added Phillips.

“Like I’ve said all along, it’s up to us to go out there and do our own jobs, there’s no hiding place.

"I will say we’ve not had the luck recently, we could have been three or four up in the first half against Nantwich and had we taken our chances at Buxton we could have come away with at least a point.

"On Monday, apart from 15 or so minutes after they scored, we played reasonably well and limited a free-scoring side in form to very few chances.

"Defensively we were sound and things worked tactically but again, if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net you’re not going to win football matches.”