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Joint boss Phil Brown had mixed feelings following Matlock's 3-1 defeat at Guiseley last weekend.

He was pleased with the performance but acknowledged that the Gladiators had contributed to their own downfall as two bad errors led to Guiseley's first two goals.

The visitors looked to be in control of their own destiny until a misunderstanding right on the stroke of half time between goalkeeper Andy Richmond and captain James Lukic led to a disputed penalty as Richmond challenged James Hanson. Mark Bett slammed home the spot kick and after the Gladiators had begun the second half encouragingly with home custodian Steve Dickenson superbly blocking a Simon Barraclough strike with his legs, the Yorkshire side immediately swept upfield for Hanson to double their lead after Richmond failed to deal with a high ball. Three minutes later the match was effectively sealed when Damien Dunne's diving header made it 3-0, and Brown also believed that this goal could have been avoided.

"It was a good performance given the circumstances" Brown reckoned. "Andy Richmond's barely had a shot to save but our errors gifted them the first two goals although we thought the penalty award for the first one was really soft for Andy's made minimal contact with their lad if any. But the referee's given it and if we'd dealt with the situation better in the first place, it wouldn't have come to that. Then Andy was at fault for the second one and although their lad's done well with the header for the third, we could have done more to prevent the cross from coming in, which is a pity as the back five played really well."

Matlock's best laid plans were upset dramatically on Saturday morning after the news a day earlier that Paul Riley, probably one of Matlock's most consistent performers this season, would miss out with a knee injury picked up in training. Telephone calls from Riley's expected replacement at left back, Ryan Davis, and also left winger Matty Caudwell, both with a sickness bug, led to two more withdrawals. So the threat from the left flank, so potent in recent Matlock performances, had been wiped out, leading to a change in formation from the favoured 4-4-2 to a 5-2-3.

"Given the illness and injuries we were pleased with the overall performance. The lads put into practice what we'd asked them to do and deserved something from the game" said Brown.

Davis and Caudwell's illness meant that both Brown and fellow joint boss Gareth Williams had to name themselves as substitutes at Nethermoor Park. Replying to comments on the club's official website about them having to don the substitutes' shirts alongside Nathan Benger, Brown explained that they did not have a lot of choice.

"Jake Pidcock and James Kinsler were both unavailable and as things stood prior to Saturday morning, we had enough cover. Once we found out about Ryan and Matty, we tried to bring Adam Kay up with us but by this time he had already committed himself to Wirksworth Town, so we were left in a position where we didn't have a lot of options. We don't want to be on the bench, but also we have to take into account the budget. Had the likes of Jake Pidcock and James Kinsler available, plus Glenn Kirkwood fit, there'd have been no problem."

New signing Ben Kistell was handed a quicker than expected debut as part of the three man attack and earned praise from Brown. the 25 year old striker, signed earlier in the week from Blue Square North strugglers Hucknall Town, had only made brief substitute appearances for the Yellows, a fact acknowledged by the Gladiators joint boss. But he was busy throughout and played a major role in James Lukic's 76th minute consolation goal.

"He made a promising debut, showed some great touches and did ever so well for James Lukic's goal with excellent control and a peach of a cross. He soon gelled with the rest of the players. He began to tire after 65-70 minutes and it did cross our minds to bring him off but we thought we might as well give him the full ninety minutes to let him get a full game under his belt to aid his fitness after only getting five to ten minutes at Hucknall. With another three or four games he'll be fully fit and we feel there's a lot more to come from him."

Davis was back training on Monday night and Caudwell is expected to train tonight (Thursday). Riley's fitness will need to be monitored from match to match.

"We think he needs an operation but hopefully we'll be able to get some games out of him" said Brown. "He probably won't do a lot in terms of training for it's a Catch 22 situation in that he could aggravate the injury training and miss games. he's a fit and strong lad and we feel we can get him playing games so hopefully he'll be okay for Saturday."

Hopes of Dene Cropper returning before the end of the campaign appear to be receding as the 6'2" striker, with five goals this season in spite of managing only a handful of games, suffered a setback at training last Thursday as he prepared for an intended comeback at Guiseley.

"He thought he'd rested the knee enough to be able to train and be ready to join the squad again but it's become apparent that he wouldn't be able to take part so now it's a matter of awaiting the results of a scan and see where we go from there."

Brown is hopeful of returning to a 4-4-2 formation for Saturday's trip to North Ferriby United which is quickly followed by Tuesday night's home clash with table topping Witton Albion. South Yorkshire firefighter Steve Circuit could miss the visit to Church Lane through work commitments but is trying to swap his shifts.

"We'll go 4-4-2 and we'll hopefully have the bodies to do it but it's only Tuesday and we were saying the same sorts of things last week only for things to alter at the last minute" Brown remarked, knowing only too well that their best laid plans have had a nasty habit of not coming to fruition this season.

Having beaten North Ferriby 2-1 at the Geoquip Stadium in September when they were going well near the top of the table, the Gladiators will be looking for their third league double of the season, but he warned that both of the next two matches will be tough.

"They'll both be difficult games. North Ferriby are fighting for their lives, their manager has not been in the job for all that long and brought in three or four players but if we can continue playing like we have in the last three games we'd like to think we can get something from the game as we've been looking more like our old selves. Witton are going well and are the best footballing side in the division . They're looking well set for promotion but we're looking forward to the challenge that Witton will set us and we're looking to getting a good crowd in for what should be an attractive game. It'll also be a measure of our recent progress."

Off the field there is a special fans forum in the Gladiators Social Club tonight (Thursday) when "exciting" developments relating to the New Stand Appeal should be revealed.

"Its fair to say there have been some very significant and exciting developments since we held our last forum in October." commented Gladiators spokesman Jason Beaumont. "I would like to encourage as many people as possible to attend and get involved in what will be an important development of the Geoquip Stadium. Fans need not be worried about not having too much free time to get involved for they can contribute significantly without giving up a lot of their spare time, but we'd like fans to see first hand what these developments are and let them feel they are being kept fully informed."

Matlock's home UniBond League derby with Eastwood Town on Saturday February 23 will now kick off at 12-45 pm as it has been selected for live TV coverage. NPL TV will be screening the match and FIFA regulations mean that the game must kick off at the earlier time rather than the usual 3 pm. Both the Gladiators and the Badgers will receive a fee for the match being filmed live.