Hard work paying off for Grant - Bottensien

Spartans goalkeeping coach John Bottensien praised the recent form of Conor Grant but issued a challenge to the former Gretna keeper to continue to improve. Grant has been a key figure for Tom Wade's side in recent weeks and is in his best run of form since joining the club in July 2012. Former Bristol Rovers stopper Bottensien pointed to one key factor as a reason for Grant's resurgence.

"Conor's attitude to both training and his goalkeeping have never been in question, in fact his attitude and work ethic is absolutely top class. It was just a case of taking those factors and putting them into his game on match day and now he is certainly reaping the rewards. He deserves the plaudits he is getting"

Grant's form has earned him a call up to the England 'C' representative squad that will take on a Northern League XI to celebrate the league's 125th anniversary. Bottensien was delighted at the call up and pointed to some big saves as a reason why he feels the Spartans number one has improved, including one memorable stop made just a week ago.

"He has made some very big saves at vital times in the last six weeks and has been responsible for earning the team a lot of points. It's not just in the league though. He kept us in the Senior Cup with an outstanding save from Andrew Johnson at 2-1 in extra time because if that had gone in we would have been out, no doubt about it. It's that sort of form that has earned him the call up and I am over the moon he has"

However Bottensien was keen to ensure that the twenty three year old doesn't rest on his laurels between now and the end of the season. Indeed the challenge made to Grant was to continue to improve, something his coach is certain he will achieve.

"The biggest challenge now for Conor is to get even better. There are still things to work on but he knows we will keep working hard in training and matches, well he will be working hard I should say. Seriously though I think there is a lot more to come from him and he will only get better"