Bill Prendergast: Radcliffe Borough players can compete without getting physical

Elliot Rokka opened the scoring for Boro midway through the second half at third-placed Trafford on Monday but they conceded two goals in five minutes after the home side threw on big centre-forwards Mark Derbyshire and Ashley Woods.

Prendergast believes their presence unsettled his young side and wants his players to sharpen up in a bid to cancel out the physical threat common to most teams in Evo-Stik First Division North.

“Our challenge is we have got to be absolutely on top of our own game, moving the ball around quicker so we don’t get dragged into competing physically,” he said, after Boro dropped to 16th following the 2-1 defeat.

“We have got to play our football better, so the opposition cannot get near us. We have got to be quicker, fitter and a lot smarter – ready to adapt and combat sides who hoof it up to a 6ft 7ins galoot, like Trafford did.

“This is non-league, and that’s what it is all about.

“We won’t be resorting to that type of football, we are on a different trajectory, but we have to acknowledge that is what we will come up against and deal with it.

“We work on that in training all the time and will continue to do that. We came up against it at Scarborough against a better striker but we dealt with it and won the game, so we know we can do it.

“Once the lads face up to that challenge on a consistent basis, our results will improve.”

Boro have been busy in the transfer market this week, signing 17-year-old centre-half Frank Jones from Blackburn to replace Callum Grogan, who has been drafted into the first-team squad at parent club Shrewsbury.

Prendergast says he is also working on a deal to loan another goalkeeper from Huddersfield after Tadgh Ryan returned to the Championship side following the end of his spell at Taurus Park.

The new keeper should be in place in time for Saturday’s visit of play-off hopefuls Farsley Celtic.