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"More of the same please". That is the clear message from joint bosses Phil Brown and Gareth Williams as the UniBond Premier Division campaign enters the crucial Easter phase.

Matlock had to be content with a scoreless home draw against second in the table Fleetwood Town last Saturday after a battling industrious performance, and two more tough tests await them this weekend.

Play off hopefuls Buxton visit the Geoquip Stadium on Good Friday (3pm) before the Gladiators are on their travels to the West Midlands to take on Hednesford Town on Monday afternoon.

Both Town and Bucks fans will be aware that Matlock suffered their worst defeat of the season so far as 2008 got off to a nightmare start for the Gladiators with a 5-1 defeat on New Years Day. With points priceless for the two clubs for different reasons, a keenly contested local derby is anticipated.

The fifth placed Bucks look well set to emulate Matlock's feat of last season in reaching the play offs and they bhave a formidable away record which has seen them win nine out of their sixteen league games on the road, with just two defeats.

And Matlock are likely to face an equally difficult game at eighth placed Hednesford, despite the Pitmen looking to be well out of contention for the play offs.

But having turned out such a disappointing performance in the 3-1 defeat at Ossett Town a fortnight ago, there was encouragement for Matlock followers in the manner in which they bounced back against Fleetwood, who were indebted to three tremendous saves by goalkeeper Danny Hurst to earn their draw.

"It was a very good performance, a good point, but on the balance of the play we deserved all three" said Brown. "we were looking for a reaction following the very disappointing show up at Ossett where we let ourselves down. There was a keen desire to put things right. The question now of course is can we do it consistently? We were hoping to do just that up at Ashton but it wasn't to be."

The line up against Fleetwood saw Brown and Williams name one of the most youthful Matlock line ups in recent years, the Gladiators opting to play Simon Barraclough as the lone attacker with five men stretched across the midfield, in which 23 years old Gary Webster was the most experienced. He was joined in the engine room by home debutants Stef Frost and Matt Thorpe plus Nathan Benger and Ben Kistell with the experienced Steve Circuit having to be content with a place on the bench.

Brown and goalkeeping coach Ian Bowling had watched Fleetwood at Worksop recently and their homework and preparation was certainly worth it.

"We'd been wanting to play that system for a while but we'd never had enough fit personnel available in the right positions to do that" Brown explained. "We used that formation against Witton and did very well, and created an number of good chances. We've had two decent performances playing that way and we've dominated both games and deserved more from them. On Saturday we just needed a little more luck in front of goal, and of course their goalkeeper played very very well."

Despite a largely favourable set of results from the Matlock viewpoint in the past seven days, the Gladiators slipped to twelfth in a tightly congested division from eighth placed down. Knowing the importance of collecting league points quickly, Brown refused to commit himself as to whether he would continue with the same formation over the Easter period.

"Its horses for courses and it may be that we'll revert to the 4-4-2. But whatever formation we employ and the team we put out, we know its a big game on Friday,a big local derby, with both teams battling for points for different reasons. Obviously we hope we can follow on from the Fleetwood performance with another good display against a top five club. We've got two tough games over Easter which is an important period for us. These are games which the lads should be looking forward to and we're sure they will be."

Monday night's visit to Ashton United proved to be a wasted one as a power failure at 7-10 pm saw the Hurst Cross ground fall into darkness and despite the best efforts of an electrician, the remedial work required was too much to enable the game to go ahead. The game was eventually called off just over an hour later with Matlock, stripped and ready for action, having a short fitness training session before heading home.

Matlock included new signing Reuben Wiggins-Thomas on the bench against Fleetwood and he was also named as a substitute at Ashton. Formerly with Chesterfield, the midfielder arrived at the Geoquip Stadium from Eastwood Town.

"We've been following his progress this season for he's been with a number of clubs but an opportunity arose for him to come to us so we can take a good look at him. He's done well in training, so we've got the chance to assess him over the next few weeks with a view to next season" said Brown who although he would not name names, revealed that other arrivals and departures are in the pipeline.

Matlock will need to check on the fitness of Gary Webster ahead of the Easter programme. Webster would have sat out the Ashton game due to a foot injury.

Meanwhile six die-hard Gladiators fans will be donning their walking boots and getting the blister ointment ready for their sponsored walk to the game at Hednesford. The journey of nearly 50 miles will begin when they leave the Geoquip Stadium at 5 pm on Sunday. They plan to walk throughout the night eventually hoping to arrive at Keys Park at about 11 am on the following morning when they plan to shower and prepare to cheer on the Gladiators in the afternoon.

Walk organiser Stuart Briddon explained "We hope to raise around £3000 towards Matlock Town's New Stand Appeal.Some people say we are mad but if it helps bring our dream of a new 500 seater stand, a new Social Club and changing rooms a little closer then it will be well worth it."

Anyone wishing to sponsor any of the six walkers, Stuart, Jay Beaumont, Ryan Evans, Alan Marsden, Mark Doxey or Malcolm Marchant, can do so at the Buxton game on Good Friday when a bucket collection will also take place. Stuart can be contacted on 01629 55710 or 07814 199025.