South Shields striker Blackett issues warning ahead of quartet of away tests

South Shields striker Paul Blackett has warned his side against looking too far ahead as they prepare for a gruelling set of fixtures.

Saturday’s long trip to King’s Lynn Town is followed by three further away days at Radcliffe, Farsley Celtic and Peterborough Sports before Elliott Dickman’s side finally return to the 1st Cloud Arena to host Kidderminster Harriers in the middle of March. A recent run of three consecutive home wins has raised hopes Elliott Dickman’s side can force their way back into the National League North play-off picture. However, their challenge now is to improve their form on the road after falling to ten defeats in 15 away games in the league this season.

Speaking ahead of the trip to King’s Lynn, top scorer Blackett told The Gazette: “Every game is a test in this league and we know you can’t over look anyone because everyone can beat everyone in the division. We have got to go in to every game with the right mindset, we have to go to Kings Lynn with the right mindset to win games. I think unless it’s (the play-offs) completely out of reach, we won’t rule it out. We have seen what can happen this season, anything can happen in the league so we can’t say we are totally out of it but we also can’t look too far ahead. Maybe we have been caught up in looking too far ahead this season when we just need to look at the next game - and that’s what we have to do between now and the end of the season.

The Mariners make the long trip to Kings Lynn looking to round off what has been a positive week after they collected maximum points from home games against Needham Market and Alfreton Town. With the final run-in lying in wait, Blackett admitted his side must improve their performances after battling through two challenging home games with an injury-hit squad.

He said: “We are confident and we are starting to find some form. We had to good wins earlier this week when we weren’t at our best but we found a way to win. It shows we are good side winning games when we haven’t been playing well so now we have to try and improve performances to give ourselves confidence going into the end of the season.”

Despite his positive form in front of goal, Blackett continues to take a careful approach with a quad injury that has limited his involvement over the last month. After suffering a hamstring injury earlier in the season, the former Gateshead striker has stressed he will continue to be cautious with a hectic schedule lying ahead.

“I’ve had a couple of little injuries this year after getting through last year without many problems,” he explained. “We were cautious with the hamstring injury even though I was back from that sooner than expected and I had the recent quad injury. It feels ok at the moment but we are having to be cautious with the amount of games coming up.”

The Mariners will take a late check on the fitness of centre-back Tom Broadbent as he continues to work his way back from injury.

Your next non-league read: Hebburn Town to be honoured alongside Newcastle United and Sunderland stars at awards night