GUISELEY’S joint-manager Russ O’Neill has always been keen to praise the collective spirit at the club, which was certainly on show during their excellent 1-0 win at King’s Lynn Town last time out on March 14.

But even he couldn’t help himself when lauding the influence of exciting attacker Kaine Felix, who scored a fine winner and continues to show why he is one of the most talented players in the Vanarama National League North.

Praising the 24-year-old, O’Neill said: “I was aware of Kaine before I came to Guiseley, as he’d flitted around numerous clubs.

“Sometimes you just need to put players like that into the right place and steer them in the right direction (in their careers).

“Some, like Kaine, really feel the benefit of that.

“He scored a great goal at King’s Lynn and they tried everything to stop him, including kicking him, all game.

“He was fantastic, as we asked him to lead the line on his own, just supported by Jamie Spencer behind him.

“But you don’t go to King’s Lynn and not concede a goal without a collective togetherness, even if there are certain individuals (like Kaine) who are massively improving all the time.”

With no other game to talk about, O’Neill was keen to wax lyrical further about the King’s Lynn win.

He said: “King’s Lynn are one of the best teams in this league and we’ve now played the top two, in York and King’s Lynn, four times this season.

“We’ve won three and drawn one of those and only conceded one goal in the four games.

“It was a huge game for King’s Lynn, as they would have gone top with a win, and with people anticipating that the (corona)virus might make this the last game for a while, maybe there was that added pressure.

“But it was a big game for us too, being on that run to try and make the play-offs (Guiseley currently sit just four points away from seventh place, the final play-off spot)

“I thought we were fantastic from start to finish and the win was fully deserved.”

That could be Guiseley's last game for several months though, with the suspension of the league due to the coronavirus pandemic now looking set to be permanent

The National League's CEO, Michael Tattersall, issued a statement this week, saying they had asked the FA to assist them with the postponement of all remaining fixtures.

Discussing how the extended break has affected Guiseley, O'Neill said: “The place where we train has been shut down, in line with a lot of other facilities, so we have nowhere to train at the moment.

“But with all the games we’ve had over the last few months, maybe a break won’t do the players any harm.

“You’ve got to remember that the whole country’s in lockdown, so we’ve got to adhere to the rules and wait for instructions from the club.

“We’re still a bit in limbo at the moment but I know the players will train at home as they’re all desperate to do well (going forward).

“They’ll look after themselves.”