AFC Fylde manager's message going into final week

The Coasters are back in National League North action tomorrow, when they welcome Leamington to Mill Farm for their last home fixture of the regular season.

Murray’s players go into the match on the back of last weekend’s win at Boston United, which kept them a point behind leaders King’s Lynn Town and with a game in hand.

Fylde had looked well set for a return to the National League when they topped the table by five points going into Easter, only to endure consecutive losses against Spennymoor Town and Kidderminster Harriers.

Murray had warned there would be twists and turns to come and, while it would be easy to think Fylde’s players could have felt sorry for themselves after surrendering top spot, the manager insists that isn’t the case.

He said: “We’re comfortable with the position we’re in and we’re taking each game as it comes.

“We’ve spoken before about enjoying the journey – and we will enjoy it – but the mood is good and we’ve spoken about having been in this position at the top for a while.

“It’s not as if we’re getting up there at the last minute, we’ve been there for a while and the lads are confident.

“At the same time, they know we can’t afford to take our feet off the gas but it’s a privilege to be in this position.

“This is why you play football, for these moments, so we have to enjoy it.”

Tomorrow’s match has implications at both ends of the table with Leamington in a battle against the drop.

The Brakes, who defeated Fylde when they met in October’s first meeting, sit third-bottom with a two-point deficit to Farsley Celtic and Blyth Spartans.

It’s followed by Fylde’s game in hand on Tuesday at a Curzon Ashton team who are ninth, only two points behind fifth-placed Scarborough Athletic.

“You have two games with two teams fighting for different things at different ends of the table,” Murray said.

“It’s going to be tough, it’s not going to be an easy week with the amount of pressure to get points and victories in those games.

“It’s going to be a tense week but we’ve managed to handle the situation really well in the last few months of being up there, challenging for the title.”

With that in mind, the fact Fylde have had a free week has been something of a boost to the Coasters’ camp.

Blank midweeks have been few and far between of late, so an opportunity to recharge the batteries has been taken with both hands.

Murray explained: “We’ve managed to get some good rest into some guys who needed it before getting back on the training ground.

“We’ve got some work into the lads but having a full (free) week has been different to what we’ve been used to.

“I don’t think we’ve managed a proper week’s training for a long time but we’ve managed to get a good balance ahead of three games in a week.”