NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

SOUTH Shields interim manager Elliott Dickman has warned his side against showing any complacency in tomorrow’s home game with already relegated Bishops Stortford.

The Mariners slipped out of the play-off places on Monday when they fell to a 2-0 defeat at Curzon Ashton, but have a golden opportunity to return to form in front of the 1st Cloud Arena faithful this weekend.

The visitors will arrive on South Tyneside on the back of a horrendous season that has seen them gain just six wins in 42 games, and their relegation into step three was confirmed last month.

However, Dickman has warned the South Shields players to focus on their own game rather than the predicament their opponents have found themselves in.

He told Mariners TV: “There is no such thing (as an easy game).

“We can’t be complacent, we can’t just assume because they’ve been relegated they’ll turn up at our place and it’s going to be an easy game.

“We’ve got to do what we do, we have got to focus on what we are about.

“Today, there was some really good football, some really good patterns, and we just have to make sure we keep progressing and play the way we do play.

“Hopefully we can score some goals on Saturday, which is what lacked today for us.

“But we’ve had a good run, we’ve given ourselves a good opportunity and we will prepare for a game on Saturday where we have to win and we can’t be complacent.”

Meanwhile, the Mariners have confirmed top goalscorer Paul Blackett has suffered a broken metacarpal and defender Dillon Morse picked up a knee injury in the recent win at Banbury United.

There is a crucial weekend lying in wait for Blyth Spartans as they aim to preserve their National League North status for another season.

Jon Shaw’s side are sat three points and three places above the relegation zone after taking just one point from their last three games.

However, they will hope to all but secure safety this weekend when fellow strugglers Rushall Olympic are the visitors to Croft Park.

Spartans will aim to complete a double over the Pics after they secured a 3-1 win in the first meeting of the two sides in December.