Lancaster City boss Mark Fell up for most of night after defeat to Whitby Town

The Dolly Blues were beaten 3-1 at Giant Axe on Tuesday evening by the North East outfit, who look the best bet out of the teams outside of the top six to force their way into the play-off reckoning.

For City – who remain in third spot in the table –the defeat was a huge blow to their hopes of chasing down South Shields at the top of the table.

They remain five points off the top, having played a game more, but Fell is well aware that his team have no guarantee of a top five spot, with teams such as Warrington Town and Whitby in the picture.

“If we have any hope of catching South Shields and winning the title then we have to be winning games like that,” said Fell, who watched his side draw 0-0 with fifth-placed Nantwich Town at home on Saturday.

“Whitby were very good and credit to them. I thought they were excellent.

“But myself and my video analyst stayed up on Tuesday night to go through the game and see exactly what happened.

“The information we gatthered was that the distances the lads covered was low – the work rate was down.

“We have relayed that information to the players because everybody has to have an accountability.

“You can’t say it is tiredness because before Saturday, we hadn’t had a game for two weeks.

“We did look a bit leggy on Saturday – we looked like we needed a game to get back in the swing of things.

“But after the sending off and then conceding the second goal on Tuesday night, all of a sudden we came alive and looked like we might get a point on Tuesday.

“We can’t wait for the opposition to score or certain flashpoints in games to happen before we start playing.”

Fell revealed that he had targeted four points from the past two home games, meaning a victory at Hyde United this weekend now becomes a high prority.

“We have to go and win at Hyde now on Saturday and that is pressure and I have to pick a team who can cope with that pressure.

“We have still got 12 games to go – it’s very much all to play for.

“There’s a lot of teams chasing in and around the edge of the play-offs and that can be pressure for everybody.

“I still think we are in a very good position.

“If we did win on Saturday, then out out of the last five games we would have won three and drawn one which is not bad going.”

However, Fell insists his team will have to show a big improvement from Tuesday night if they are to get anything from their trip to Hyde this weekend.

“They are in mid-table and probably not got anything to play for but they have athe artificial pitch” said Fell.

“I said to the lads, if we are on it then we are as good as anything in the division, but if we are not on it and the required work rate is lacking, then we are a midtable side.

“If we are at our best, we will win at Hyde but if we are not then we could lose.”

Forward Matty Blinkhorn came through unscathed after coming on as a substitute on Tuesday night. He has had a spell on the sidelines through injury.