National League: No time for self-pity, says Halifax boss Kelly

Tuesday night’s 7-0 hammering at Grimsby Town, coming on the back of a 7-1 loss to Cheltenham Town just 10 days earlier, has left supporters despairing and the bookmakers pricing the West Yorkshire club as odds on to go down from the Conference.

Manager Darren Kelly, however, insists all is not lost ahead of today’s trip to Chester – providing no-one at Halifax feels sorry for themselves.

“You can’t sit down and sulk about it,” said the Northern Irishman. “You have got to respond. Confidence is a difficult thing because confidence can be the thing that makes your mind and feet not connect because you don’t feel comfortable doing things.

“When you are comfortable and you are confident, your mind and your feet connect because they believe in what they are going to do.

“There is a process to try and build that (confidence).

“In terms of going ahead, the most important thing is that, come the end of the season, we are not down where we are.”

Tuesday’s hammering at Blundell Park was the first time Halifax had lost 7-0 since March, 1996, when Macclesfield romped to an identical winning margin at Moss Rose.

Just 10 days later, Town lost heavily again – 6-1 at Kidderminster – and yet that campaign ended with the club finishing 15th and comfortably clear of trouble in the Conference.

Whether the current crop can get out of trouble remains to be seen but Kelly remains optimistic. “The games are coming thick and fast,” he said, “which is good in a sense that with a result like Grimsby can be turned around in the next match.”

Guiseley, who meet Halifax in the FA Cup at The Shay a week today, host Boreham Wood looking to claim a first win in five outings.

Victory for the Lions would not only lift Mark Bower’s men up the table but also give Halifax an opportunity to claw back some ground in the scrap to avoid relegation, Boreham Wood sitting directly above the drop zone and five points ahead of the Shaymen.