Lancaster City: No panic as Farsley close in

Lancaster City boss Phil Brown insists there's no panic after his side's lead at the top was cut from nine points to three.
Ricky Mercer has been struggling with illness. Picture: Paul VauseRicky Mercer has been struggling with illness. Picture: Paul Vause
Ricky Mercer has been struggling with illness. Picture: Paul Vause

The Dolly Blues suffered a shock 3-2 home defeat to Brighouse Town on Saturday as nearest rivals Farsley won 5-4 at Hyde – both games settled by late goals.

The Yorkshire side then won one of their three games in hand 7-0 at Ramsbottom on Tuesday night to close in on the summit of the Evo-Stik First Division North.

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“I can only go off what I’ve seen during the season and when we’ve dropped points we’ve bounced back,” said Brown, whose side travel to Colwyn Bay on Saturday.

“We haven’t really lost or drawn games back-to-back.

“I didn’t see anything that suggests it’s going to be a real struggle between now and the end of the season.

“We weren’t at our best and it was a below-par performance but on the flip side we deserved a point.

“We talked after the game on Saturday and again on Tuesday night about the difference between a winning and a losing performance.

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“Saturday was a second-place performance but there’s no despondency, there’s no panic.

“We move onto the next game and need to focus on what we didn’t do well and what we need to do better on Saturday.

“We need to roll our sleeves up which is what we’ve done all season.”

Brown believes it is vital his side don’t focus too much on title rivals Farsley who can move three clear if they ultimately win their games in hand.

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“We’ve been top of the table for two and a bit months now,” said the Blues boss.

“Teams were always going to get closer to us, people are picking up and dropping points all over the place.

“Farsley are now three points back with two games in hand but we’ve just got concentrate on ourselves.

“I’m interested in what we do and that continues on Saturday.

“If we start worrying about Farsley it will affect us.

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“They’ve still got 11 games to play and we’ve got nine, a lot can happen.”

On paper Saturday’s opponents Colwyn Bay are one of the bigger clubs in the division but they are 17th in the table after back-to-back relegations.

“I’m surprised by how low down they are,” said Brown. 
“They’ve got good players and spent decent money.

“They’ve had back-to-back relegations though and that affects clubs.

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“I thought they’d be higher up but I as I keep saying it’s all about what we do.

“We’re just after three more points.”

Glenn Steel is unavailable for the game while fellow central defender Ricky Mercer has been struggling with illness.

Brown however hopes his skipper will be fit enough to play on Saturday.