Buxton boss Steve Cunningham wants his side to embrace being a target to NPL rivals

Steve Cunningham believes the ambitions of chairman David Hopkins and everyone at the club has made Buxton a target.

The Bucks have slipped off top spot in the NPL following a woeful run which stretched to four straight defeats after last night’s 2-1 defeat at Scarborough last night.

And Cunningham believes it’s a bad run which has gone down well with others around the league.

“We are a big scalp with a target on our back,” the boss said. “Everyone knows the chairman is ambitious, I am ambitious but people can’t wait to stick the knife in every time we lose a game.

“We are a target and we have a weight on our shoulders. We will embrace having a target on our back.

“If we had lost those four games, spread out over the season, no-one bats an eyelid.

“Matlock have lost six games, but no-one is calling for his head.

“People just can't wait to put a target on our back but it will just fuel our fire.”

Cunningham is still confident Buxton can turn it all around once key players return to the fold.

“We know performances are not far away with people coming back,” he added. “We will be judged at the end of the season.

“We have had a real lack of numbers. When you are missing Ben Turner, James Hurst, Diego de Girolamo, Jamie Ward, Ben Mills - they are big players in any team.

“They are players who have played in the majority of the first 20 games in the season and we’ve not been able to play them so it's been tough.

“We are now the hunters again instead of being the hunter. The results will come, there is no doubt about it.

“People are saying confidence has gone, but not long ago the team went top of the league.

“Once they swing back our way then we will motor. We are staying positive and I won't let it get to us.”