DANNY Forrest says his Silsden squad is fully prepared for a demanding spell of fixtures ahead.

The Cobbydalers face a fixtures backlog, which sees them have five games in 14 days, starting at Abbey Hey on Saturday.

Forrest's men then have a week off from action before four games in seven days. Silsden travel to Hanley on Saturday, April 20, then they are back on the road again at Barlick two days later.

But they have the comforts of home when they entertain Northwich Victoria at the Cobbydale Construction Stadium on Wednesday, April 24. Their demanding round of fixtures ends on Saturday, April 27, when they host Burscough in their last game of the season.

Silsden warmed up for this busy sequence with a 2-0 home win over Padiham - their 14th victory of the season - on Saturday. They had supersub Chris Wademan to thank for the victory in only their second game since February 23, as he scored in the 77th and 88th minutes.

The Cobbydalers are 11th in the Hallmark Security League Premier Division on 47 points, as Forrest targets a strong end to the season, despite their hectic run-in.

He said: "It feels good to be back into it. We want to be playing and I want to be managing football matches.

"We have six games in April and I felt it was important to get off to a good start to that, but it is up to the lads now to take that on.

"We have said that our squad is fully capable of coping with the next few games. We have 18 or 18 lads who can start and have an effect at this level. I will be using the squad a little bit more widely.

"I will be giving youngsters the chance at first-team football. I will be giving lads who are not playing much a little bit more gametime.

"We have gone from a period of four games in 10 weeks, to five games in two weeks. That is a lot for 11 lads to deal with.

"I want us to finish the season off as strongly as we can.

"We have got half an eye on next season now, we are not going down and not going to be at the top.

"The most important thing is to win games. Every team we put out is capable of winning games."

Abbey Hey looks to be a good game for Silsden to start their busy spell with as they are cut adrift by 11 points at the bottom of the table and with a -82 goal difference, but Forrest has erred on the side of caution.

He added: "We lost 1-0 to them in January. We need to show the right attitude and application and we are not taking anything for granted. There are two teams on the pitch. It is not just all about us.

"It's a dangerous game for us."