Connor admits Blyth Spartans are hurting as tough times continue with home defeat


Michael Connor delivered a brutally honest assessment of the current state of Blyth Spartans following Tuesday night’s home defeat against Stockton Town.
A stunning late effort from Anchors substitute Michael Fowler was enough to give the Anchors all three points at Croft Park and boost his side’s chances of securing a play-off spot in their first ever season in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. However, it is avoid history rather than making it that is the priority for Spartans after they took another step towards suffering consecutive relegations for the first time in the club’s long and proud history.
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Tuesday’s defeat left Connor’s side 16 points adrift of escaping the relegation zone with just 14 games remaining in the season. More importantly, the club’s ongoing battle to find financial stability has led to a number of difficult decisions being taken and Connor has admitted they have been further approaches for a number of players within his current ranks.
Despite the understandable doom and gloom, Connor has stressed his determination to help his hometown club move forwards no matter what happens between now and the end of the season - but he warned there is a need for everyone at the club to ‘toughen up’ as they look to navigate another challenging period.
He told The Gazette: “There’s been a lot of games where we have been in the game but we haven’t taken our chances and we get done. I don’t know when it’s going to end and these lads have gone through tough times in these last two weeks with us getting them down here to ask about wage cuts and to say the club has to be rebooted.
“It can’t happen at the end of the season, it has to be done now and the club supported us early on but then you’re trying to get players in, they’re contracted and they say they’ll come next season. Some of the lads that have come in have been brilliant but we are hurting, the club is hurting and we just want to put smiles on faces. We beat Mickleover, they were almost tears in the changing rooms and it meant a lot to the fans too. We want to turn it around, it’s hard, we are trying to lift the lads.
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Hide Ad“There will be a future at this club, we will turn it around, but it’s important we make changes to ensure there is a club in the future. We’ve saved around £11,000 on the budget in just over a week and a half, that was needed but we just need to toughen up, get on with it and remember these tough moments when the good times will come around.”
Spartans are back in action on Saturday afternoon when Leek Town travel to Croft Park.
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