Michael Dunwell admits ‘tough task’ to come after Stockton boost play-off hopes

The Anchors went 1-0 down early on at Broadhurst Park after a goal from Jordan Buckley, but answered back in the second half through Tom Coulthard.

That point ended FC United’s hopes of lifting the Premier Division title on the final day, while simultaneously lifting Michael Dunwell’s side one point ahead of the chasing play-off pack.

The Stockton boss felt his side were good value for the point, and perhaps could have taken all three back to the north-east.

“I thought it was a really good performance,” he said post-match. 

“We started well, maybe let ourselves down in the final third a few times in the first half, but we got better in the second.

“I thought there was only going to be one winner. We pushed and pushed, probably could have had a couple of penalties, but we kept pushing, and it’s a really good point.

“You say it puts us in the driver’s seat, but we’ve still got a tough task of going to Warrington Rylands on Saturday and getting the win.”

The point means the Anchors lead the way in the race for the top five going into Saturday, where they, Lancaster City and Gainsborough Trinity will battle it out for that final play-off place.

With Rylands not playing last weekend, but with fourth place secured, it remains to be seen whether Neil Reynolds rests players ahead of a play-off trip to his former side, FC United.

Nevertheless, Dunwell insists that all Stockton are doing is focusing on picking up all three points.

“We don’t know how they’re going to approach the game, so we’ve just got to focus on how we approach it,” he added.

“We’ve got to go there and win the game, and that’s all we’ll be thinking about - putting in a performance and winning the game to get into the play-offs.

“It’s been a frustrating season on the whole with injuries, but if we were to get into the play-offs, it would be a huge achievement.”