RADCLIFFE Borough's temporary manager Joe Gibbons admits he has gone through the full array of emotions since taking over the reins from former boss Bill Prendergast.

The Taurus Park outfit followed up a victory at Glossop North End in his first match in charge with a 3-3 draw at Droylsden on Saturday and 2-1 defeat at home to Glossop in the reverse fixture in midweek.

Gibbons says he has seen much to admire in his side's performances so far, but after letting a three-goal lead slip at the weekend and then conceding twice in the opening stages of Tuesday night's defeat there was also plenty to work on.

But he believes he has the players to bounce back at Hyde this weekend, when his squad will be given the chance to earn the right to play in next Wednesday's eagerly awaited Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy semi-final against Clitheroe.

"I have been through the full set in my opening three games – a win, a draw and a defeat – so there have been mixed emotions," said the Liverpudlian.

"As a manager I have learned a lot from those first three games, probably more than if we had won all three

"You tend to analyse things more when they don't go your way and I now know a lot more about my players.

"What I do know is we have a strong squad of 22 players. They are all battling for that shirt and it is great to have that competition.

"The ones who play on Saturday at Hyde will have to earn the right to keep it for the semi-final next week."

First-half goals from Elliot Rokka and Lewis Reilly put Boro in control at Droylsden, and when Reilly added a third just after the hour mark it looked like Gibbons would make it two wins from two.

But after quickly conceding from the restart the young side crumbled, letting in two more before the 80th minute.

They showed great resolve to hang on for the point, but the downward trend continued in the opening half against Glossop and despite Reilly pulling one back in added time they were unable to complete the comeback.

"To be fair, for an hour in the Droylsden game we played really well," added Gibbons.

"I believe you can always do something better, but it was as close to perfection as you are going to get.

"We put in a sound, solid performance, but for some reason after they pulled one back it just seemed to knock the stuffing out of us.

"It was naive of us to allow them back into the game, but even after they levelled 10 minutes from time we were still trying to grab a winner ourselves and had the guts to make sure we at least got a point.

"It was a different story against Glossop. We just didn't turn up in the first half, every decision we made was the wrong one.

"The second half we dominated but by the time we got the goal back it was too late."