Hucknall make it three wins in a row

A 3-1 home win over Holwell Sports on Saturday was followed by a hard-earned 2-1 success at Graham Street Prims on Wednesday.

But that came at a cost as they lost key players Joe Butler and Jamie Crawford with injuries.

“We now move on to Saturday with a very bare squad,” said manager Andy Graves.

“We have also got three players away this weekend as well which isn't helpful, so we are going to have to dig in with the young lads and the reserves again.

“It's not ideal but you can only play the hand you are dealt.

“Blackstones are down near the bottom, but that doesn't mean anything as the game at Prims proved. They played well at times.”

Hucknall have now pushed themselves up into third place, but Graves warned: “We won't get carried away, there is a long way to go. But we have got into a little bit of a run of form. We had to dig in on Wednesday night, though.

“Saturday was a good performance. We had five or six chances in the first 10 minutes but unfortunately we didn't take them. Then they got a goal just before half-time.

“But second half we got back on it and got the three points.”

He continued: “On Wednesday we were very comfortable first half, controlled it, then almost became the architects of our downfall in the second half as can happen with us.

“We were 2-0 up and the players went out with the message not to be complacent.

“But we picked up another bad injury to Joe Butler. His hamstring popped, which we actually heard go, it was that loud. He has only just come back from a broken leg and was back on form and playing really well.

“We seemed to panic and discipline went. Then we got a sin bin which put us under pressure for 10 minutes and they sensed they could get back into it.

“We managed to overcome that storm but were still giving away fouls and they pulled one back and also hit the crossbar.

“We hung on in the end, though we picked up another injury late on when Jamie Crawford hobbled off with an ankle injury.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​