South Shields look to strengthen lead in Northern Premier League against Stalybridge Celtic

The Mariners were pegged back by two late goals last weekend as Ashton United came from 3-1 behind to draw 3-3.

Kevin Phillips’ side remain at the summit, though, with goal difference separating them from second-placed Hyde United, who have played two more games than them.

Shields have the joint second-best defensive record in the league, but the manner of their concessions against Ashton frustrated Phillips.

He has called for a response from his players heading into the trip to 20th-placed Stalybridge.

Phillips said: “We’ve dusted ourselves down and had a good week of training, so we’re well prepared for the game.

“We’re looking to get back to winning ways and keeping clean sheets, because we’ve been excellent at that so far this season.

“We’re just having a bit of a wobbly spell in terms of conceding goals, but we’ve got enough experience to handle that and the pleasing thing is we’re finding the net regularly now.

“We were gutted not to win last Saturday but we’ve remained positive and we’re looking forward to getting back in action.”

Phillips was pleased with his team’s overall performance last time out – which made the result even tougher to come to terms with.

He added: “We absolutely dominated the game, which is what made it even harder to take.

“It felt like a loss, because we were in such a commanding position.

“We were disappointed in the manner of the goals we conceded, and that’s something we’ve looked at this week.

“We’re still top of the league so it’s onwards and upwards.”

The teams met on the opening day of the season at 1st Cloud Arena, with Shields recording a 2-0 win with goals from Michael Woods and Joao Gomes.

Shields are hoping to welcome back Tom Broadbent and Sam Hodgson on Saturday, but remain without Conor Newton heading into the 1pm kick-off at Bower Fold, which has a post code of SK15 2RT.

Admission prices are £12 for adults and £8 for concessions.