​Gladiators boss Carruthers keen to see upturn in form

​The Gladiators now lie in an unhealthy 16th spot and while they remain comfortably clear of the bottom four, they are acutely aware that they need to pick up points quickly to cheer their fans and steer their way back into the top half of the table.

They lost 5-0 in a midweek visit to Hurst Cross last October, one of a number of poor away results this season, but their home form has been generally good.

This is amplified by a good scoreless draw against a big spending Worksop outfit in their last home game a fortnight ago which was followed by a lacklustre display at Workington last weekend in a 2-1 loss, much to the frustration of boss Martin Carruthers.

He said “Our away results are down to the lads’ mentality, they do very well at home but when they go away we just don’t seem to perform in the same way. At Workington about nine of the 11 weren’t at the races when we know that to win games in this league you need nine out of the eleven performing well.

"It was a long journey but we have to deal with it, we’re inconsistent and that’s something that the players have to address. The performance was unacceptable and we need to ruffle a few feathers.”

Looking ahead to Ashton and Tuesday’s trip to Whitby Town, Carruthers says it is up to the players to provide a positive response. Having given Curtis Durose, on loan from Rotherham a debut at Borough Park, he brought in two more loanees with Jack Goodman and Tavonga Kuleya from Doncaster Rovers (see below)

He said: “We’ve signed new players and nobody should take their places for granted. We want to put a run together and finish off the season well, we have twice as many home games as away (8/4) and we need to try and win as many of these as we can, plus of course improve our away form.”

Midfielders Nathan Whitehead and Michael Williams, however, look like being out for some time yet.

“Willow’s hamstring will see him miss te next four to five weeks while Nathan might be fit for the Lancaster game on March 9,” Carruthers confirmed.

Two familiar faces could be in the Ashton line up on Saturday. Winger Al Byrne, whose deadly set pieces and crosses created a whole host of opportunities and goals for Matlock during his three years with the Gladiators, should receive a warm welcome with Matlock knowing all too well the danger he could pose. Brad Abbott, whose season was ruined by a broken leg last term, may also feature.

Meanwhile, as the squad trained under the watchful eye of assistant boss Wayne Hallcro on Tuesday, Carruthers was part of the panel which also consisted of chairman Jay Beaumont and treasurer Scott Bradshaw, to answer a variety of questions asked by the club’s fan base.

“It was another great evening which was well-attended, and I hope it gave the fans an insight in what happens at the football club,” said Carruthers, who said during the forum that Matlock Town is by far the best club he has been with as a manager.