Grantham Town face North Ferriby in the Northern Premier League East Division

Head coach Louis Bland is hoping his Grantham Town side can continue to show they can mix it with the best ahead of another tough test for the Gingerbreads on Saturday.

They welcome play-off chasing North Ferriby United to the South Kesteven Stadium for a Northern Premier East Division clash.

The two sides are separated by 13 places and 23 points in the league table but Bland has been encouraged by his team's performances against the league's leading lights.

They have secured two draws with high-flying Dunston in recent weeks with Bland looking for more of the same this weekend.

He said: "We probably didn't show our true selves in the games against Pontefract and Grimsby but, other than that, it's how we've been playing.

"I don't think we've got as many points as we deserved but we've shown that we can fight with any team in this league.

"Everyone has been playing six or seven out of 10 and we needed some eights and we got that on Tuesday night from a few of them.

"It was probably why we picked up a well-deserved point in the end."

Grantham had to battle back for a point in midweek after falling behind just past the hour mark to their third-placed visitors.

Craig Baxter's goal had put Dunston in front but Louis Nicholson equaliser with 11 minutes remaining earned Grantham a share of the spoils.

Bland added: "I thought it was a really good game and I enjoyed it.

"It was played at a really good tempo, both teams tried to play football the right way by getting it on the floor and dictating possession.

"They had more of the ball than us because they're a better side but we showed that we could match them when we had the ball and we pressed really aggressively when we didn't have it.

"We showed that we can mix it with really good sides."

Bland is looking for his side to cut out conceding goals from corners which led to Dunston's opener on Tuesday.

He added: "We switched off from a corner again. We keep conceding goals from corners and we need to rectify that quickly.

"We weren't good enough in the 10 or 15 minutes after they scored but we got our personality back and the goal we scored was really good.

"We just need to be careful of those 10 or 15 minutes after they scored. On another night, they probably score two and then the game is sort of gone.

"We need to be careful and react better when we concede."

Saturday's home match is the second meeting of the season with North Ferriby.

The Villagers were 4-2 victors in the first match after scoring three times in a 14-minute spell during the first half.

Goals from Luke Hinsley and Chris Salt got Grantham back into the match but Ferriby always had the upper hand.