RAINWORTH MW will travel to league leaders Bridlington Town on Saturday somewhat relieved to see the back of February and hoping for a better March as far as league games are concerned.
The Seadsiders' sticky spell during January left Rainworth as most people's title favourites, but the Wrens' own poor run in February, allied to Bridlington's return to form, has seen Rudy Funk's men lose some ground in the title race.
But Funk i
s adamant that nothing will be settled on Saturday. Speaking after Tuesday night's Notts Senior Cup defeat by Dunkirk, while Bridlington were beating Selby to go nine points clear, he said: "Of course it's a massive game for us, but which ever way it goes it will not be the end of the world.
"It's still only March, there are still a lot of games to be played, and no titles are going to be settled this weekend.
"We have been going through a difficult spell but we will approach this game as we do every match, we will go into it looking forward to it and full of confidence."
However, Rainworth will travel to Queensgate on the back of three straight defeats including the Senior Cup tie, in which 13 goals have been conceded, in contrast to almost 500 minutes of clean sheets at the end of the long winning run.
On that subject, Funk added: "Perhaps we are becoming a little uneasy, but (in the cup tie) I counted at least six or seven good chances for us to score.
"That's football, you have to cope with these difficult times and come through them, and we will come through it. The atmosphere in our dressing room is the same now as it was when we were winning, except that the players are a little more self-critical, but I see things differently.
"We haven't been enjoying much of the run of the ball lately, and everything seems to be falling to the opposition, but that will even itself out again. We have some tremendous players coming back into contention with Ian Clarke, Matt Baxter and Lewis Trimmer all available again.
"I was delighted for Lewis against Dunkirk when he came on as substitute and did very well for us. And, despite the number of goals we have conceded, Mark Hales is having one of the best spells of his career in goal, so there are plenty of positives to take.
"The Senior Cup is a prestigious competition, so I did not send a weakened side out or hold anyone back for Saturday, but it didn't go for us. Dunkirk undid us on a few occasions and deserved their win.
"But maybe we will have one or two surprises up our sleeves when we go to Bridlington on Saturday."
