Albion boss Kulwinder Sandhu feels this month is a critical one for the club and hopes his side get the opportunity to build up a head of steam.

After an enforced period of inactivity – from December 8 through to last Saturday – Sports suffered a defeat on their return to action.

They got back to winning ways in midweek but any hope of a run of games is under threat from forecasted sub-zero temperatures.

Sandhu said: “We were very rusty when we lost at Louth but we had been out of action for over a month, so that wasn’t too unexpected.

“We huffed and puffed but we were a bit short in all areas of the pitch and Louth wanted it more than we did.

“We had Adam Jones suspended – he had been waiting weeks to get that served – and Karl Hall was unavailable but otherwise we had a strong squad, so we should have done better.

“I don’t mind losing, and Louth are a good side, but I don’t like it when I think we have not given all that we could.

“Wednesday (when Albion beat Selby 3-0) was far better because of the effort we put in. It was a team performance. We need more of that as this month is a vital one for us with a lot of midweek games.

“It is no good having games in hand, we found that last season.

“You need the points on the board and the only way you can get them is by winning games. The postponements caught up with us last year and we don’t want that again.”