In-Form Bucks prepare for a tough Warrington trip

The Bucks will be looking to extend a run of five league games unbeaten, their most recent result being a 3-1 win at Halesowen on Saturday before the abandonement of their match with Ashton on New Year’s Day.

But McIntosh knows it will be a tough encounter at the fifth-placed Cheshire side.

He said: “Warrington are right where they should be as I think they’re in the top five biggest clubs at our level.

“We played them here earlier in the season and the game could have gone either way but we ended up shading it 2-1. They will feel they could have got more as we rode our luck a bit at times so Paul Carden and his strong squad will be looking to put that right.”

The abandonement of the Ashton game was as a result of a problem with the floodlights at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium, the nature of which it was felt would cause a threat to safety if they had remained on.

McIntosh said: “It’s frustrating and I feel for Ashton as they were ahead but there was nothing we could do. We’ll have new floodlights and a new pitch here in the coming months so the problem will be patched up for now ahead of the surroundings changing dramatically in the summer.”

Saturday’s win at Halesowen came thanks to Liam Hardy’s first-half hat-trick, and was a good response to the blow of conceding two late goals in the local derby at Matlock Town on Boxing Day which ended 3-3.

McIntosh said: “It was important to get that out of our system but more so to get a bad referee out of our system as the guy at Halesowen reffed the game as he should and controlled it well.

“We could have scored more in all honesty but I was really pleased with the performance.”

McIntosh, meanwhile, has secured the services of Boston United loanee Jack Broadhead until the end of the season, adding to the recent acquisition of defender Matt Baker.

He said: “We’ve not lost a game since either of those players joined which tells its own story.

“Jack has been excellent and it’ll be great to have him until the summer. Matt has been a real leader for us, alongside two other leaders in Kern Miller and Joe Maguire, the latter having played alongside Matt at Ilkeston. They’ve gelled really well.

“There may be more signings to follow but we are unbeaten in a few which is pleasing.

“It’s a tight league - we’re 11th now but were 14th three games ago, then eighth, then ninth and now 11th due to the abandonement.

“So if we can continue this form and perhaps turn some of the draws into wins I think we’ll be right up there in the play-off reckoning before too long.”