JON Macken rates Saturday’s goalless draw at leaders South Shields as the clearest sign yet his side have gone up a level.

The Neuven Stadium men have undergone a remarkable transformation in recent weeks, following a run of bad results with an unbeaten spell of five games in which they have won three and conceded only one goal.

And while they did not get the three points on Saturday, Macken was impressed with the way his side dealt with the high-flyers on their own ground in front of a crowd of more than 1,300.

“We fully deserved it,” he said. “The players are playing with confidence and belief and they’re fighting for everything every minute of the game.

“They’re playing for each other and could even have got the win on Saturday because we had the best two chances of the game.

“We play some good football but we’ve shown we can defend well too with the recent clean sheets and they defended for their lives on Saturday. South Shields are a good team and they’ve spent a lot of money but we matched them and that shows how far we’ve come in the last few games.”

The point leaves Boro 16th in the 22-club Evo-Stik North with four successive home games to come, starting with Saturday’s clash with Mossley who are one place and one point above them having played a game more.

That is followed on Tuesday night by the visit of mid-table Colne and then the following two Saturdays see two potentially good crowds when South Shields come to the Neuven Stadium followed by the local derby against Atherton Collieries.