Altrincham FC manager Lee Sinnott will be giving us the inside track on the Robins’ return to the Conference. Here’s his latest column for Altrincham Today.
The two games we have played this week have shown that we are still coming to terms with the consistency needed in the Vanarama Conference.
Despite playing very poorly against Alfreton on Saturday, we still had enough chances to win the game but lost out to a first-half goal where we haven’t defended properly from a corner.
We then got a great response from the players to gain our second away league victory of the season at Lincoln on Tuesday night and deservedly came out on the right side of a 2-1 scoreline.
At the moment, it’s a case of getting into the halfway area of the table and striving for the consistency needed to do that. We are up to 17th now, just two points below Lincoln in 13th, and have taken 13 points from our last seven league games.
It is about development and the team evolving, and basically that is the period we are in at the moment. We are one of the new boys in this division, and once we start getting consistency in terms of performance, we will get greater consistency in results.
When you look at it and analyse what we have done so far this season, you have to say we could easily have had another seven points on the board.
We know what to expect from playing at Blyth two or three years ago, and on top of that, they will have a bigger crowd behind them
It is about achieving that consistency as newcomers to this division. It is about evolving. You can’t walk into this league and expect to be pushing for the top six straight away. No chance. Not unless you’ve got a hell of a lot of cash.
It is a tough league. You can see the step-up we have taken every match day. You look at stadiums, like Sincil Bank on Tuesday, and it reminds you how much you want to test yourself at this level every season. It is a learning experience that is going to last all season, and one of the benefits is that belief comes with each positive result.
You beat a team like Bristol Rovers and believe you can do it again. You go away to Grimsby and draw, and you win at places like Halifax and Lincoln, and it builds and builds slowly in the psyche of the players.
But you can’t expect to walk in and be up there. It is a building blocks process, especially for a club our size. If you look around at what we are up against, you have to be in cloud cuckoo land to think we can stroll in and be knocking on the door of the top six straight away.
We can now focus on the FA Cup tie at Blyth on Sunday and there is absolutely no question that it is going to be a tough day for us, as well as a big day. The North East is invariably a tough place to go to, and we know what we are walking into. We know what to expect from playing at Blyth two or three years ago, and on top of that, they will have a bigger crowd behind them. At least we should be pretty well prepared, because it seems we are away in the FA Cup every single time!
You can be sure we will give Blyth 100% respect – like Altrincham they have a fantastic FA Cup history and with the BBC cameras being there and the high level of media interest in this tie, you can be sure that both teams will be up for it.
