Yeovil Town goalkeeper Joe Day said his team-mates were happy to pick up a point despite not being at their “fluid best” in the 1-1 draw at Chippenham Town on Tuesday night.
The on-loan Newport County keeper was beaten by a freak own goal by defender Morgan Williams in the 89th minute in Wiltshire, but he said a draw was acceptable after his team-mates missed a number of chances to score.
Speaking on Thursday, the 33-year-old said the Glovers now have to make the point a worthwhile one with victory at Welling United on Saturday.
He said: “Being realistic we are not going to be at our fluid best every game, so to come away with a point away from home we have to take the point and turn it in to a good point with a win on Saturday.
“I don’t think anyone is going to be easy to play against. Most teams we have come up against make themselves hard to break down, we felt that against Chippenham who defended well behind the ball. But we have got to come to expect that, when you are top of the table teams are going to want to be hard against you and it’s up to us to overcome that.
“Everyone wanted to keep the winning run going til the end of the season, but we are still unbeaten and as long as we are where we want to be at the end of the season, no-one is going to worry about the runs, it’s all about being at the right point of the season.
“I like to think of my goals as team goals because it takes an entire team to get a clean sheet, so measuring success as a goalkeeper is about performance levels and how we defended the box as a unit. Everyone in the team wants a clean sheet, not just me.”
The same back four – Michael Smith, Jake Whittle, Morgan Williams and Alex Whittle – started in front of Day for 11 consecutive games until an injury to Wannell in the 26th minute of the 4-2 home win over Farnborough broke the run.
On loan Bristol City youngster Duncan Idehen, 21, has featured in the FA Trophy exit at Torquay United and the draw at Chippenham Town on Tuesday night and Day has been impressed with how he has filled the void. Manager Mark Cooper revealed on Thursday that he expects Wannell to be available for selection against Welling.
Day said: “Dunc’s come in well. He’s stepped in to a strong partnership between Morgs (Williams) and Wans (Jake Wannell), so to come in to that is difficult for him as a young lad but I think he’s done himself justice. Whenever you change the back line, there has to be a level of adaptation and it’s frustrating we have not to keep that continuity. But over the course of the season, you have to deal with these things.”