SEDGLEY Tigers must keep on churning out away victories if they are to make home advantage count in the promotion run-in, says coach Geoff Roberts.

The Park Lane men were again frustrated by the weather at the weekend as their match at home to Otley was called off due to a frozen pitch.

It was their second home game to be postponed this season, following the loss of the Caldy fixture to a waterlogged surface in December.

That has left the third-placed Tigers with at least one game in hand over most of their rivals, apart from National League Two North leaders Macclesfield.

“The fact these games in hand are at home could be significant in the run-in, but only if we keep picking up points away from home,” said Roberts.

Stourbridge moved above the Tigers into second place at the weekend following a 23-10 victory at home to Harrogate.

The Midlanders are now four points clear of Sedgley in the promotion play-off spot, but have played two more games.

“We won’t panic about that, but it is clear Stourbridge are playing well at the moment, so we can’t afford any more slip ups," Roberts said.

“They got another bonus point at the weekend, which is something we were doing regularly at the start of the campaign – that’s how we opened up such a big gap over the chasing pack.

“I am confident we can get back to doing that ourselves, especially at home on a good flat pitch, but we must guard against dropping points on the road.”

Sedgley lost at Preston Grasshoppers before Christmas and suffered a surprise defeat at home to South Leicester in the first game back after the festive break.

But they got back to winning ways with a gutsy 15-13 win at Tynedale, and Roberts believes they will need to show the same determination and concentration at 14th-placed Luctonians on Saturday.

“Luctonians have shown already this season that they can take points off the top teams, especially at home,” he added.

“I think we have been there twice in the past and have won one and lost one.

“So it is a tough place to go and pick up points.

“The past few weekends have shown us there are teams in this division that can cause an upset.

“Preston drew with Caldy at the weekend, maybe they have turned the corner and will start picking up points against some of our rivals, like they did to us.

“But I would put Luctonians in the same category. They are dangerous customers at home, so we need to be ready.”

One advantage of last weekend's postponed game, according to Roberts, is that any remaining players carrying knocks should be fit to play on Saturday.

Ben Lloyd is expected to return following time out with a back muscle problem, while Mike Waywell has recovered from a hand injury.

Only Ben Black will be missing after the tight-head prop was suspended for two weeks for the red card he picked up for violent conduct in the win at Tynedale.