Hebburn Town assistant manager Mark Hudson has issued a cautionary note to his squad ahead of the National League North clash with Buxton on Saturday. The Hornets are "well on their way" to their points target for the first 12 games, having collected seven points from home matches against Southport and Worksop Town and a recent away win over Brackley Town. A late penalty from on‑loan Hartlepool United striker Josh Donaldson secured a 1‑0 victory over Worksop at the Trustmark Group Stadium, giving the team momentum for the upcoming trip to the Peak District.
Hudson told reporters that the National League North is "a different animal" and that the players must remain focused. "We won’t get carried away at all and the players are the ones that are guiding that," he said. "We set a points tally for the first 12 games and we are well on our way towards that. We have gone 12 games, 12 games, 12 games, and then see where we are after those 36 games. If we are safe, we have then got ten games to push on and see where we end up in the table. If not, we see what we have to do to be safe. It’s all about being safe in this league, it’s all about sustaining our place in the league and that’s our first aim for the season."
Hudson also highlighted the need for squad rotation, noting that the intensity and number of fixtures in the league require more than the starting eleven. "We can’t do what we did last year and just hammer the first eleven because we did that a lot last season and we got away with it a bit. We will have to make changes because there are a lot more games and there’s more intensity," he added.
The Hornets will assess defender Joe Oliver before finalising their starting eleven after he sustained a knock in the midweek win against Worksop.
