The out of sorts Wrens were held to a 1-1 home draw by new look Lincoln Moorlands Railway, who arrived at Kirklington Road on Tuesday night with a new manager and six new players recruited from UniBond League clubs. Clearly everyone was out to impress the new boss, and the visitors were well worth their point.

The result means that Rainworth will not now equal or beat Guiseley's long-standing league record of 20 straight wins, but on the plus side the draw took the Wrens' unbeaten league run to 20.

So, despite the disappointment, Funk remained upbeat, saying: "Although we didn't play well on the night, I did not have a rant in the dressing room afterwards. I just congratulated the players on putting together such a marvellous run in our first season at this level.

"Guiseley's record was starting to become a monkey on the players' backs and had possibly affected their performances. Now that is out of the way we can go into Saturday's home game with Pickering in fresh heart, and try to launch another winning sequence.

"Eight years ago this club was in the Notts Alliance, so who would have thought then that in eight years' time we would be graded for a place in the UniBond League?

"It's a measure of how far the club has come in such a short time that we are not just rubbing shoulders with, but competing with and beating some very big clubs like Bridlington, Selby and others."

Rainworth go into the Pickering game looking to complete a double after winning 3-2 at Mill Lane in October, despite the Pikes enjoying the vast bulk of the attacking play.

"I've seen them play a few times and they are a better side than their league position indicates, besides which they will be out to prove a point to us after our win up there, so we will have our hands full," added Funk.

Defender Cameron Fearon and new striker Craig Mitchell, who missed the Moorlands game through injury and unavailability respectively, are expected to return to the Rainworth squad, but influential defender Matt Draper picked up a hamstring injury on Tuesday and is unlikely to be fit, so Barry Alberry also joins the squad, which is likely to be from:

Hales, Fearon, Bainbridge, Wilkinson, Charlesworth, Alberry, McDonald, Naylor, Asquith, Mitchell, Lynam, Sweeney, Jones, Goodson, Topliss.