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Spalding United travel to face Banbury United in the Southern League Premier Division Central




Manager Jimmy Dean is urging his Spalding United side not to let their standards slip as they start another crucial month of matches.

The Tulips boss was left frustrated by his side's display in their goalless home stalemate with Royston Town at the weekend.

Although the draw extended Spalding's unbeaten run to 11 games in the Southern League Premier Division Central, they dropped down to ninth place in a keenly-contested table where eight points separates the Tulips from new league leaders AFC Telford.

Maniche Sani holds off a Royston challenge on Saturday.
Maniche Sani holds off a Royston challenge on Saturday.

They head to Banbury United this weekend with Dean looking for an improvement from his side after a strong run of form.

He said: "We've been on a good run of form so maybe we are there to be shot at a little bit.

"It is a compliment in one sense but I'd argue that we've got to deal with it better.

"If we're on our game and we're at it then we do take some stopping but, when we have our step backs and drop percentages in terms of our intensity and tempo of play, we will drop points.

"It's as simple as that because we have to make sure that we're at the top of our game more often than not.

"There was no excuse on Saturday for us not being there other than that we didn't fancy it for long enough.

"We were miles away from where we needed to be in the first half on Saturday and, although we huffed and puffed after the break, Royston did a good job on us so credit to them."

Spalding will be looking to complete a league double when they travel to Banbury on Saturday.

Goals from Bart Cybulski and Maniche Sani secured a 2-0 home success in the October meeting at the Sir Halley Stewart ground.

The Puritans are currently 16th in the 22-team division but Dean is expecting a tricky test against the Oxfordshire side who were relegated from the National League North last season.

He added: "It was disappointing last Saturday but Royston are no mugs and we'll be ready to go again.

"We had been scoring a lot of goals prior to Saturday and I back my players to come back to that.

"We want to bounce back with a positive result which I know is easier said than done at a really difficult place to go and a long travel.

"We will do our best to be ready and then do our best to attack them."

Spalding are then in action on Tuesday night when they host National League North side Scunthorpe United in the semi-final of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup.

The match pits boss Dean against his former club who he led to county glory last season as the Iron defeated Spalding in the final at Lincoln City.

League matches then follow against Halesowen (home, February 8), Leiston (away, February 15), Bishop's Stortford (away, February 18) and Redditch United (home, February 22).

Spalding striker Theo Hudson has signed under dual registration with Northern Premier League Premier Division side Basford United.



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