McIntosh urges caution as Bucks face strugglers

The Bucks will host Skelmersdale United on Saturday, the Lancashire side currently sitting second from bottom in the league on 14 points, that game then followed by a trip to third from bottom Sutton Coldfield a week on Saturday.

And with a good run of results against teams in the higher echelons of the table behind them, McIntosh doesn’t want to see standards slip.

He said: “I know this division well enough to ensure I don’t take any notice of league positions when it comes to who we are playing.

“We’ve been beaten by and drawn against struggling sides already this season and the nature of this division means you simply cannot afford to let complacency creep in.

“I know my own players and the levels I expect them to play at and it doesn’t matter who they’re up against.

“Skem boss Tommy Lawson has been around a long time and we’ve had some great battles over the years. This game will be no different, and the fact they’re fighting for their lives will count for a lot, as will be the case against Sutton Coldfield next week, a team who were leading against us until the 83rd minute last month before we fought back to win.”

Last weekend, the Bucks took a point from their trip to Blyth Spartans despite the hosts playing for 50 minutes with ten men after the sending off of Damon Mullen.

But although Buxton weren’t able to press home their numerical advantage, McIntosh wasn’t too disappointed with his side’s efforts.

He said: “I’m happy with a point. When they had the red card I could have taken a more gung-ho attitude, and while some people might say I should have done that, I felt that Blyth could still have beaten us if we’d done that.

“I’d have been more upset had we got home from a 12-hour day with no points like we did last year thanks to a last minute goal, so I preferred us to keep our shape and sit wait for our chance.”

Tuesday night saw Buxton progress in the Derbyshire Senior Cup with a 2-1 win at Clay Cross Town, goals from Jamie Jackson and Nicky Walker overturning a half-time lead given to the home side by former Buck, and current Clay Cross player/manager, Ant Lynam in the eighth minute.

McIntosh was pleased with the win, but also reserved plenty of praise for the home side.

He added: “It was good to give a few players some minutes, particularly some of the younger players, and we did well to come back and win.

“But I have to pay tribute to Clay Cross who are a fantastic club with a great set-up and an excellent pitch which the groundsman had done a great job with, and they acquitted themselves brilliantly.

“Ant Lynam was a handful up front and they had some really tricky attacking players who gave us a very hard time.

“We had Jan Budtz in goal making several excellent saves as Clay Cross created a lot of good chances, so I applaud the way they went about the game and to be honest I felt they deserved a lot more from it.”