Shields must stay grounded and put in another solid away display

South Shields bring their run of four consecutive away games to an end as they look to extend their unbeaten run at Stalybridge Celtic on Saturday.

The Mariners have won seven and drawn three of their last 10 matches to establish a 10-point lead at the top of the Northern Premier League.

With just nine fixtures remaining this season, Shields know promotion is tantalisingly within reach, but manager Kevin Phillips continues to stress the need to avoid complacency in the weeks ahead.

That message is particularly prevalent heading into the trip to Stalybridge, who are 17th and battling against relegation.

Phillips said: “The players have a fantastic mentality and they’ve shown that throughout the season.

“We’re in a brilliant place and I can sense the players have that bit between their teeth.

“We’re so close but we’ve still got a lot of work to do, and anything can happen in football.

“We’ve got to stay grounded and look to put in another solid away performance against Stalybridge, who are scrapping for their lives.”

Shields drew 0-0 at Matlock Town on Tuesday in what was one of their two games in hand on secondplaced Hyde United.

Phillips added: “It was a fantastic point on Tuesday, considering it was our third away game on the bounce and a long journey.

“We’ve kept three clean sheets in a row, which is fantastic, and we showed brilliant battling qualities.

“We know we can play better but if we had played for another five minutes, I’d have fancied us to score.

“At no stage did we look in danger, but we just lacked a bit of quality in the final third to get the goal we needed to win.”

It is unclear whether defender Dillon Morse will recover from his injury in time to play a part on Saturday, but Shields are expected to have an otherwise fullstrength squad to choose from.

Kick-off at Bower Fold – which has a post code of SK15 2RT – is at 3pm and admission prices are £12 for adults and £8 for concessions.

Shields’ next home game is on Tuesday, when they take on FC United of Manchester.