THERE was not much for Guiseley's joint-manager Russ O'Neill and his team to cheer in last weekend's disappointing 2-1 home defeat to AFC Telford United, but he hopes Kennedy Digie's first Lions goal will see him become a deadly defender.

Digie netted the opener against Telford, following a strike from fellow centre-back Hamza Bencherif the previous week at Darlington.

O'Neill will be keen to see his goalscoring defenders come to the fore again on Saturday when they visit 18th-placed Kettering Town, a game in which three points are necessary for Guiseley in their Vanarama National League North play-off quest.

Discussing Digie, O'Neill said: "Kennedy has shown resilience. He's a strong and mobile defender, which has suited us since we changed shape.

"He's acquitted himself well, especially since he's a right-footer playing on the left (centre) in defence.

"I've asked him to be aggressive in both boxes and he got himself on the scoresheet. He needs to back up his defending with goals as we need them all round.

"I'm pleased he got his goal, like Hamza against Darlington, but I'm sure he'd rather have not scored and we'd won 1-0."

O'Neill was frustrated with the performance against Telford, saying: "We came in with belief and momentum (after beating Darlington 3-0) but every game is different.

"We didn't do well in some areas and as always, if you don't turn up at this level, you'll be on the wrong end of the result.

"We have to move on now for a tough away game against Kettering."

O'Neill is still wary of Saturday's opponents, despite their lowly league position, and them going four games without a win.

He said: "Kettering have plenty of experienced non-league campaigners at this level and the one above.

"They're really hard to beat and I think they've just gone to Altrincham and drawn 1-1, which is no mean feat, as that's a tough place for anyone to go.

"But we're on an unbeaten run away from home and we've got to take a mentality there of wanting three points. We're aiming to come back with not just the one point."

That attitude shows Guiseley are keen to put the Telford defeat to one side and not dwell on it.

Individual errors did cost them at Nethermoor last Saturday, but O'Neill said: "Mistakes in key areas cost you results, but there were mistakes all over.

"We don't dig out individuals, as we win as a team and lose as a team. We didn't say one player won it for us at Darlington, and we won't say one player lost it for us against Telford.

"We're mightily frustrated but we know we're not far away (five points) from the play-offs. We've set ourselves a points target and hopefully we're somewhere near that come the end of the season."

Asked if changes will be made for Kettering to get back on target, O'Neill said: "We've not thought about changing but we'll see how the lads are at training this week.

"We can't be too downbeat after a bad result, same as we can't get carried away by a good one.

"We'll assess, lick our wounds, and go for a win on Saturday."