Paul Holleran spoke to local media ahead of Saturday's trip to South Shields.

"We've had a little bit of a break," the expeienced manager said. "I think that sometimes helps a little bit when you're in the middle of a lot of games and you do a lot of travelling in this league. At the moment, we've had a nice break and got back on the training ground this week so, look, it's always good to spend time with this group.

"South Shields is a stadium we haven't visited as a club before, I've heard so many good things about the place. We're really looking forward to visiting them."

Giving a bit of a squad update, Holleran added "They're all back in training, some more gingerly than others. The little breather certainly helped two or three of them but yeah - we'll see where we are Saturday. It's a busy week with two away games either side of the Southport home game, but it's the reality of what we worked so hard to get promoted into.

"We're going to need everybody. I think that most of the side will definitely play their part over the next seven days. It'll be a tough week, but we're in good form with good spirits and we're well aware about South Shields' home record is up there with the best, it's like a lot of teams - we're the same - strong at home but away form can be a bit indifferent.

"I've watched them come through the leagues and wherever they've been, they've always played a really good brand of football and are quite expansive, lots of energy about them. When they get it right, they're a delight to watch. The reality of this league is there are spells where it'll be tough, they've had a few tough results already but that happens to everyone - Stockport, Harrogate, Salford all experienced that in our time in this league. 

"We're expecting a really tough game, we're going to have to go through a bit of pain but we'll see where it takes us."