Hednesford Town boss Rob Smith admitted his side struggled in an uncharacteristically flat performance as they could only achieve a rare 0-0 home draw against Ashton United on Saturday.

The Pitmen faced ten men for forty minutes but looked a little jaded during the second half and Smith, who’s squad have a deserved rest with no midweek action this week, believes they will come back stronger next Saturday.

‘The performance was a little flat, and the whole day had that feel about it. We had put a lot into the game at Matlock, some of the players have played a hell of a lot of games and it showed. We looked very tired mentally.

‘We will have the night off on Tuesday, the players and coaching staff need to recharge batteries ready for another very busy period. We will come back on Thursday nice and bright and prepare for Saturday.’

Despite the perceived disappointment in not gaining all three points, Smith believes it shows how far his team have come in the fifteen months since his appointment as they still harbour realistic aspirations of promotion to the Blue Square Conference North.

‘The up side is that we are learning that when it is not our day, to make sure we do not lose and take the point. Four points from Matlock and Ashton is good in the grand scheme of things and we are still within touching distance of the leaders.’

The raft of suspensions accrued during the busy, two game a week schedule of the past six weeks will see Dan Crane and Pedro Monteiro join Nick Wellecomme on the sidelines but Smith is confident his squad will cope.

‘Obviously a keeper will come in on Saturday for Crane, Ben Bailey will replace Pedro, and I have cover up front, so at the moment we do not feel the need for new signings, but we are always on the lookout if we feel the need to bring in some fresh faces.’

The Pitmen face Mickleover Sports in a re-arranged fixture at Keys Parkon Saturday following Northwich Victoria’s victory in the FA Trophy. Kick Off 3pm.