The Villagers’ boss Neil Parsley has certainly found a formula that works, and he explained his thinking this week.

Farsley are on a nine-match unbeaten run after the New Year’s Day win over Ossett Albion in Evo-Stik Division One North.

Eight of those games ended in victory for Parsley’s men, seven of which were in the league as Farsley go all out for promotion.

The boss said: “We are having some success at the moment, and the players deserve all the plaudits they are getting.

“We have Robbie O’Brien as a right-sided midfielder but he isn’t playing out of position. He is a central midfield player but he has not lost any of his influence on games by playing a bit wider.

“Matty James is playing wide left midfield and he isn’t a winger either, but neither of them are playing the traditional winger roles. Robbie’s job is to play off the front two and create things when going forward.

“The formation we are playing is a fluid one - it isn’t a rigid 4-4-2 and the players are intelligent enough to make it work.

"Any system is dependent on the players and their understanding of it, and my players know exactly what’s expected of them and they are delivering. The upshot of that is the run we have been on.”

Farsley were frustrated by one postponement over the busy holiday period but that was away from home.

New Year’s Day’s home game going ahead, when neighbouring Conference North clubs Bradford Park Avenue and Guiseley both lost home fixtures to the weather, is testament to the excellent work that goes on behind the scenes at Farsley.

Parsley said: “The pitch stood up really well in those dreadful conditions - there were a few battle scars on the surface afterwards but nothing too bad. It didn’t cut up.

"No-one knows more about our pitch than JP (John Palmer, the club’s president and owner of the company that looks after the surface at Throstle Nest) and he wouldn’t risk it if he thought it would cause problems for subsequent matches.

“Everyone who works so hard, many of them volunteers, at this club deserve so much credit and all of us on the football side appreciate that and want to reward their efforts with good performances and success.”