Duo could return for Matlock Town's weekend fixtures, boss Phillips praises Dabbers win

Town travel to Warrington on Saturday before August Bank Holiday Monday sees the Gladiators host Gainsborough Trinity at the Proctor Cars Stadium (both 3pm).

However, Phillips' side should be full of confidence following following victories over Nantwich Town and Hyde United.

“We’ve had a tough game at Nantwich and we’ve got another at Warrington but we’ll come up against a different force," Phillips said.

"Warrington will be more direct than Nantwich and they’ll ask us a lot of questions, so we’ll have to be up for the test.

"It’s my job to manage all these games correctly so we can keep the lads fresh.

"Considering they all have to go to work as well. it’s a demanding schedule for players at this level.”

Reece Kendall netted for the second successive game to give the Gladiators a hugely impressive away victory against a hugely talented Nantwich side on Tuesday night.

The decider came in the 62nd minute as he headed home a superb ball in from the right by Alex Byrne.

Phillips labelled his side’s 1-0 victory the perfect away performance.

“It was the perfect away performance against a quality side, Cookie’s (Dave Cooke) got a very good team here," Phillips said.

"I thought the win was totally deserved, we worked hard and they played the game largely in front of us.

"To say we’d got three of our mainstays out, Ross (Hannah), Liam and Chippy, to put in a performance like that away from home on a Tuesday night speaks volumes for the character of the players.”

Matlock made it two wins out of two at home with a strong second half display against Hyde United on Saturday.Headers from Reece Kendall and substitute Lirak Hasani had put the Gladiators two goals in front before Liam Hardy netted a consolation for the Tigers deep into stoppage time, Hyde boss Dave McGurk's final game in charge before resigning from his role.