YELTZ boss John Hill must take heart from their showing at title-chasing Shaw Lane.

Third-from-bottom Halesowen lost 3-2 away last Saturday despite Jordan Goddard and Enoch Ekongo finding the net.

However, it was the manner of the performance that offered Hill the biggest sign yet that they can start to push away from the Northern Premier League's dangerzone.

He has now called on his players to back up the display when they head to Mid-table Lancaster City this Saturday.

He said: "We've gone to one of the league's big hitters, who have a massive budget, with just a skeleton squad and a couple of academy kids on the bench.

"We've then put in one hell of a performance and I would honestly have been seriously disappointed even if we'd have come away with a draw, so to lose was a massive sickener.

"We missed a few good openings to go 3-1 ahead and you just know at the time that you need to take them. When you're down at the bottom you can't afford not to have that cushion.

"We also lost Jordan Goddard with a hamstring injury and that did weaken us. When they made changes it won the game for them, that was the difference.

"But we'll have another two sessions this week and the lads are looking sharp so we just need to try and mirror that performance this weekend.

"Hopefully the performance can give us a little bit of renewed confidence now. We need to just apply ourselves in the same way at Lancaster."

The Yeltz will also be boosted by the return of Ethan Jones and Roland Agbor as well as key midfielder Ivor Lawton, who has now served his three-game suspension.

Shaw Lane goalscorer Jordan Goddard is likely to remain sidelined though.

Despite added options for the Lancaster trip, Hill says he is hopeful of adding another midfielder before the weekend.

Another forward player remain high on his wishlist but the right man may not be found in time.