STEVE Cuggy insists Blyth Spartans can still climb out of the relegation zone, but the Croft Park club boss admits his side face a potentially "daunting prospect" against Guiseley tonight.
The Spartans were “marmalised” 5-0 at Nethermoor Park in August, when Cuggy acknowledges the first “wake-up call” of a difficult season outlined clearly to him how clinical opposition teams can be in Blue Square Bet North.
Nonetheless, the Blyth manager believes his players remain upbeat.
Though the priority now is to take points off clubs near them in the table, Cuggy heads into this evening’s encounter at Croft Park knowing anything claimed from the likes of Guiseley will prove a crucial bonus in the fight for survival.
He said: “The lads are still quite upbeat.
“Everybody knew the season was going to be difficult, we took a little while to get going and unfortunately it has been more difficult than we all expected.
“Certain things have gone against us at certain times, but that is just one of those things.
“We just have to put all of that behind us and get on with what we can do something about, which is the game ahead of us. I hope we can get out of this situation and I still believe we can.
“We have to take points off the teams around us, but anything we take off the big teams in the top six is a bonus.
“Guiseley could be a daunting prospect, or it might not be. Football is such a fickle game.
“Can we get something there, because if we can we might be close to getting out of the bottom three? It is that fine a margin.”
Cuggy added: “The game against Guiseley earlier in the season was the first real wake-up call we had. We had just beaten Bishop’s Stortford on the Saturday before and we did not play too badly for half an hour. We had two good chances when it was 0-0.
“They were quite clinical just before half-time and went in 2-0 up and then they marmalised us in the second half.
“They played well, so it was a wake-up call as to how clinical teams can be at this level.
“I take a bit of heart from the first half an hour, and the way Guiseley moved the ball, they will struggle to do that on our pitch.”
