South Shields go back-to-basics in bid to end dip in form at Southport
South Shields will hope to return to winning ways when they travel to Southport on Saturday afternoon.
Elliott Dickman is hoping to make the most of a back-to-basics approach as South Shields prepare to travel to Southport this weekend.
The Mariners have endured a difficult period after going without a win in their last five games in all competitions over the last month. An away defeat at Chester preceded an FA Cup exit at the hands of Macclesfield and a battling home draw with Chorley. Last weekend’s disappointing 3-0 loss at league newcomers Needham Market extended that run before a young Mariners side fell to a 1-0 home defeat in a Durham Challenge Cup tie with similarly youthful Gateshead side.
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Ahead of Saturday’s visit to Southport, Dickman revealed the message he has delivered to his squad as they look to return to winning ways on Saturday afternoon.
He told The Gazette: “Southport’s form is up and down, our form is similar but our main message to the group will be to get back to our way of doing things and being the best version of ourselves. That’s really important for us. We have to make sure we can get back-to-basics and doing things in the right way. There has been a little bit of that in training and we’ve had a good week. We have two more days of training and we’ll be ramping up our tactical and match preparations for Saturday but back-to-basics has been a theme in training this week.”
Dickman was able to hand valuable game-time to defender Dillon Morse and he continues his comeback from a knee injury that curtailed his involvement last season. The long-serving centre-back played for just over an hour in the Challenge Cup defeat against Gateshead and will be in the squad for the trip to Southport.
Reflecting on the game, Dickman said: “We were disappointed to come out on the losing end but it was brilliant for Dillon to get some game-time and that was a massive plus for us as part of his recovery. Ewan McGowan, Sam Watts, Bryan Taylor, James Sloan all got minutes for us and that’s a real positive because they’ve been in and around the first-team throughout this season.”
Dickman has revealed Mackenzie Heaney is a doubt and a decision over his involvement will be taken over the next 24 hours - but striker Paul Blackett and midfielder Dan Ward remain unavailable.