Marine midfielder Jay Devine has said there has to be a response from his side’s 2-0 home defeat to Clitheroe when the Mariners travel to Mossley on Saturday.
A brace either side of the interval from Max Cane handed Neil Young’s team their first defeat in eight games on Tuesday.
The loss leaves Marine third in the league, three points behind leaders Rylands with a game in hand.
They face a Mossley side that comfortably won at the Marine Travel Arena 3-0 back in January.
Incidentally, that was Marine’s last defeat until Tuesday night.
Devine said: “There has to be a reaction from the game on Tuesday. We weren’t good enough and obviously we’ve got to react.
“Every game is a big game, there are no easy games in this league either. We’ve got to be up for everything.
“We’ve got a good side full of quality players. If we go into the game with the right attitude and right mentality then I’m sure we’ll bounce back.”
The 21-year-old is keen to move on from Tuesday’s disappointment but emphasised Marine will have to be wary of Mossley’s approach.
He said: “They’re a good, physical side and if you let them play, they will and they’re good at it on their day.
“It’s not a nice place to go, we got beat there last season or the season before it got curtailed.”
They’ll be without their captain James Barrigan on Saturday. He was sent off in the waning moments against Clitheroe thanks to two yellow cards.
Barrigan agreed with Devine’s assessment, saying: “We weren’t at our best. Clitheroe dominated on every area of the pitch, to be honest.
“They probably deserved the win at the end of the day.”
Ryan Wignall is likely to take Barrigan’s place in midfield at the weekend. He will be looking to help fire Marine to a vital win.
A victory could see them move above Workington and into second place. That would depend on Workington’s result away at 18th-placed Prescot Cables.
With just six games left to go, Marine have to find a way to produce as many results as possible if they are to gain automatic promotion back to the Northern Premier League.
(Featured image thanks to Mike Pennington, creative commons licence)
