Tom Talks | After the Workington game

"The emotions that go with playoffs are huge," said Blyth manager Tom Wade following his side's 4-3 defeat by Workington on Tuesday. "You win and you're ecstatic, you lose and it is a terrible, terrible feeling. Scary.

"I thought we didn't really get going in the game till after about twenty minutes. Workington were catching us on the break. After that I thought it was pretty even. The goal we scored just before half time gave us some momentum but losing Damen Mullen to injury was a blow. We didn't handle the game the way we should have done. Workington came in the playoffs late and the expectation was on us to win.

"Plus the difference was that their 'magic men' were better than our 'magic men' on the night. But the lads gave their all and that's all you can ask for. It was a superb effort and the players are devastated. It has to be said though that the best team won.

"You've got to applaud how the lads have played all season. Challenging for the League or getting to the playoffs has to become the norm for Blyth Spartans. It's the least we should accept. It's a benchmark; the minimum we should be prepared to accept.

"To do that we need a bigger squad with better quality in it. We need these in order to be truly competitive in order to achieve those aims. We've been building an excellent Evo-Stik Premier League side for three years now but we need to be ambitious and press on."