DAVE RICARDO says his Selby Town side need to cut out ‘sloppy errors’ to get their Northern Counties Eastern League division one play-off push up and running.

The Robins went down 3-1 at league leaders AFC Mansfield last Saturday. Tom Chamberlain halved the deficit on the hour mark, but throughout the visitors struggled to deal with the threat of strike duo Craig Mitchell and Dean Rick, who have already scored 31 goals between them in the league.

Ricardo believes the absence of captain Dane Mortimer - due to work commitments - played a significant role in this, saying: “We really missed Dane at the back on Saturday.

“I think two out of the three goals could have been prevented had he been there.” He added: “Our makeshift defence simply didn’t stand up to what Mansfield threw at us.”

The Robins face Shirebrook Town tomorrow, who are in a rich vein of form having won their last three games.

Centre-back Mortimer will return to the starting line-up on Saturday for the visit of Shirebrook, while Chris Jackson is also available for selection. Jamie Forrester is still away on holiday.

Ricardo insists keeping the back door shut will be key to igniting his team’s challenge. He explained: “We’ve got to start cutting out sloppy errors at the back.

“I thought Lewis Rowbottom on debut struggled to adapt to the pace and intensity of the game having not played at this level for a while.”

He continued: “We’ve got to start picking up wins now and the target is 20 points from the next nine games. Our finishing has been a problem, but at the moment we are conceding at least once in every game.

“There’s no reason why we can’t do it, but we need to work hard to cut out these mistakes.”

In Northern Counties Eastern League premier division, Pickering Town are on the road again, travelling to bottom club Brigg Town.

Their long trip to Clipstone on Tuesday night ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat. Matty Turnbull made it a nervous final ten minutes for the hosts, but the Pikes’ elusive search for consistency continues.

Paul Marshall will be hopeful of taking striker Calum Ward, set to return after puncturing his lung, with him to Brigg, who have only won twice this season.

Billy Miller is looking forward to returning to home soil with his table-topping Tadcaster Albion as they face Nostell Miners Welfare.

A last-gasp goal from Josh Greening handed the Brewers a 1-0 victory in their last outing, played on a poor surface at Retford United.

Miller explained: “On Saturday we were playing the pitch rather than the opposition. We had bags of chances and got in good positions, but bobbles took it away from us.

“We had to adjust our game plan, did that, and then it was a case of playing for time and waiting for someone to get the right bounce.

“We’re at home on Saturday, on our own pitch, and that will help us play our technical game and use our pace down the wings.”

Nick Thompson and Josh Barrett will not be available for the game at Ings Lane, which Miller is not taking lightly: “They haven’t won in six, but this league has a knack of throwing up daft results," he added.

“Before you know it, you can go six games without a win, like Nostell have. That could easily happen to us, but we have to reassure people that we are good enough.”

“We have a phenomenal fanbase here,” he emphasised. “They’ve backed me this season and there is a huge amount of mutual respect there. They are our 12th man.”