Eastwood look to build on unbeaten January as tough February lies in wait

The Red Badgers are four games unbeaten since the turn of the year having begun to build some good foundations under new joint-bosses Paul Rockley and Zander Shayler.

With that in mind, the next month, which will see Eastwood come up against three of the current top four in the UCL Premier Division North, will provide a good test as to just how much the team has progressed, beginning with the visit of second-placed Gresley Rovers this weekend.

Rockley said: “January was certainly a good month for us and it’s not only got some wins on the board which was important, but also helped create a lot of excitement in terms of not only where we are now but also with regard to our potential in the long-term.

"But attention now needs to turn to what on paper is a much tougher month ahead. We aren’t daunted by it, more seeing it as a chance to test ourselves against the best sides and hoping to cause one or two upsets along the way.

"As always we’ll have reports on those we’re about to face and will do our homework accordingly, with the intention of hopefully showing how resolute we are and putting on some good displays.

"You always want to be able to compete against the top teams and it’ll help show where we might need to make improvements, with next season in mind when we hope to be up there challenging ourselves.”

Last weekend’s win over Holbeach came thanks to two goals apiece for Ben Henderson and Nathan Kelly, although a late red card for Ben Stokes put a slight dampener on the afternoon’s work.

Rockley said: “The conditions were tough with the wind, which was against us in the first-half, but we scored early on which helped and went into the break 1-0 up.

"We then had a good 15 minute spell in the second-half which killed the game off and we were really happy overall with the performance as well as our mindset and mental toughness.

"The red card marred things a little but people make mistakes and we move on and look ahead to the game with Gresley.”