GUISELEY boss Mark Bower will challenge his players to bounce back immediately from their midweek mauling at Cheltenham when Eastleigh head to Nethermoor on Saturday.

The Lions were stuffed 5-0 on Tuesday to slump to their heaviest loss of the season and end an encouraging run of two straight league wins.

It was a costly defeat in more ways than one as defender Adam Lockwood was sent off and fellow defender Rob Atkinson was forced to depart early on with a hamstring injury.

Striker Liam Dickinson suffered a broken nose and defender Ben Parker also picked up a knock, but Bower will rally his troops ahead of this weekend's game.

After the Lions' first defeat in five league games, Bower said: "Games like the one in midweek at Cheltenham aren't going to define our season.

"The games that will make the difference are the ones that we have won over the past couple of weeks – the home games.

"We've got a home game against Eastleigh to look forward to on Saturday and we've got to bounce back, patch the lads up and look to get back to winning ways.

"We can't get too down about losing games at this level and the big thing is whether we can bounce back from it.

"We had been on a half-decent unbeaten run in the league, so we've just got to take the positives and go again.

"Other players will come into the side and it's up to them to take their opportunities and hopefully help to get us a result against Eastleigh."

Lockwood will be suspended this weekend and Atkinson is set for a spell on the sidelines, forcing Bower to reshuffle his side.

Atkinson was forced off early on at Cheltenham and Bower added: "Rob felt a sharp pain in his hamstring, so it's clearly a tear of some sort, which is disappointing as he has been outstanding for us.

"You're looking at two or three weeks out at least but hopefully it's not too bad. Obviously Locky is going to be suspended but we've got players in the squad who can move around or come into the side.

"Like I said, it's up to them to take their opportunities. We'll assess everyone at training tonight and do our best to get a team together and go again on Saturday.

"We've got players in the squad who can play centre-back so it's not a case that we have to go out and sign someone.

"I've got every confidence that whoever plays there on Saturday can stake a claim for being there for the rest of the season."

Meanwhile, Guiseley co-owner Steve Parkin has again been strongly linked with a takeover of Leeds United.

According to one national newspaper report, a deal with the Clipper Logistics boss and lifelong Whites fan is "imminent".

Other reports claim that Parkin is one of six potential buyers who are looking to acquire the majority shareholding of Italian Massimo Cellino.