Grantham Town host Sheffield FC on Non-League Day

Head coach Louis Bland feels the next two home games could define the season for his relegation-threatened Grantham Town side.

The Gingerbreads are currently seven points adrift of safety at the foot of the Northern Premier League East Division table.

They host 10th-placed Sheffield this Saturday before a crunch clash next weekend with Ossett United who are just outside the drop zone.

Bland commented: "I said to the players after Saturday's match that these two games will define our season.

"We have to be better at home and we need to play well on Saturday. If we can get the three points, hopefully we can kick on for the rest of the season.

"We have to target these two games because we're at home against teams who are only just above us.

"We need to win these games if we want to stay up and, if we don't, then we deserve to go down."

Grantham returned to action last weekend after a flurry of postponements with a 2-0 away defeat to league leaders Stockton Town.

They fell behind early on and Stockton also struck the woodwork on a couple of occasions before Grantham worked their way back into the match.

The Gingerbreads saw a penalty appeal turned down before the table-toppers scored a second goal after the break.

Bland added: "We were nowhere near it in the first 15 minutes and looked a little bit like a rabbit in headlights.

"We got better as the first half went on and that's credit to the boys because they showed really good character to keep in the game for as long as they did."

Saturday's home match with Sheffield is part of the Non-League Day initiative with Bland and his players visiting a number of local schools in the past couple of weeks to hand out tickets for the game which will allow admission for one adult and up to three children for free.

Club chairman Paul Rawden said: "We need to get more youngsters here on a match day and what a great time to do this.

"Non-League Day is a great celebration of football. Coming out and supporting your local team means more than supporting a team from miles away.

"We have an amazing loyal bunch of supporters of all different ages so come and join the singing on the East Stand or be close to the dug-outs in the Main Stand."

The club are also inviting Friends of Sandon and Ambergate along to do a bucket collection for their fundraising for Grantham Additional Needs Fellowship (GANF).

After the match, local rock band Under the Covers are on from 6pm at The Gingerbread.