Fylde boss Challinor sets wins target to seal play-off spot

Fylde, who welcome second-placed Sutton United to Mill Farm on Saturday, now have a play-off finish in their own hands.

“It was a really good Easter weekend for us and the win at Barrow just capped it off,” Challinor told The Gazette.

“Results went for us on Friday but we were disappointed the game was called off on Monday, but again results were kind to us elsewhere.

“We took care of our own stuff on Tuesday night to get the three points that puts us back into the play-offs – which is where we want to be.

“It’s now back in our hands and we know if we win our remaining five games, we will be in there.

“That’s always a better position to be in than worrying about other teams and relying on others to do you favours.

“Do we have the potential to win our remaining games? Yes we do, because we’ve shown we can compete in every game.

“Of course it’s a lot more difficult actually doing it, but we’re certainly in a good place and we’ve shown over this weekend different ways of winning.”

At the start of March, Challinor set his charges the target of winning seven of their last 10 games of the season.

To date, they have won three leaving them with another 12 points to find.

He added: “We still need to win another four out of our remaining five games to reach that target I set of seven wins in 10.

“That could get us in. We’re in a position where we know winning all of them will get us in.

“We’ve also got ourselves closer to teams above us like Wrexham and Aldershot. So if they slip up, all of a sudden it may require less.

“We’re in a good place but there’s still a lot of work to be done and a lot of games to win.

“We’re in a good frame of mind with a big game ahead of us on Saturday which we’re all looking forward to.

“Then it’s on to Torquay on Tuesday night which be a really tough trip, and then on to Maidstone the following weekend.

“So there’s a lot of travelling to do and three games in the space of seven days which will go a long way of deciding where we will finish.

“Before the Barrow game I said our away form needed to improve and we needed to grind our results away from home a little bit.

“I said that because if we do get in the play-offs, realistically we’re going to have three games away from home.

“Our form needs to improve on the road but our home form has been good, so we’re hopeful the win at Barrow will give us a big boost – especially seeing as we have three of our remaining five games away from home.”

A minute’s applause in memory of Fylde supporter Corban Rushworth will take place ahead of kick-off on Saturday.

Corban died over the Easter weekend, aged only 35, having attended the Good Friday win over Halifax.

He leaves behind a wife and three young children, the youngest of whom has the genetic disorder Turner Syndrome.

The family would welcome any donations to the Turner Syndrome Support Society at https://tss.org.uk/