WHILE third place might seem the most likely position for Guiseley to finish their Vanarama Conference North season, Mark Bower is setting his sights higher than that.

On the back of an excellent 3-1 home win over AFC Fylde on Tuesday, which prevented the visitors from retaking second place, the Lions boss is still eyeing top spot.

Ahead of a congested 11 week run-in to the end of the season, during which time his team will have a minimum of 16 matches, he said: “Nothing is decided yet, and with the quality of players we have at Guiseley, we are quite capable of going on a long unbeaten run.

“We have done it in the past, and most of the lads are used to playing at the top end of this division.”

Playing their first match since January 24, Guiseley saw off one of their promotion rivals, with Bower adding: “We restricted them to very little until the final ten minutes.”

Guiseley not only welcomed back Danny Hall from his loan spell at Hyde, but also had former Stockport County striker Liam Dickinson making his debut up front with Adam Boyes.

Bower said: “Danny used all his experience to get himself through the game and gave a really good performance, while Adam was playing his first game for six weeks.

“His partnership with Liam gives us a real physical presence up front but they can also hold the ball up – they can play a bit.”

Saturday’s visit of sixth-placed Hednesford Town is the second of four straight Nethermoor contests for Guiseley before they embark on three away trips and another two at home.

Bower said: “Hednesford and Boston United (seventh, who visit Nethermoor n Saturday week) are among the last matches where we can directly influence teams near the top of the table, while playing against teams in the lower half of the table gives us a good chance of picking up points.”