TAMWORTH FC will look to take a "positive approach" into their Northern Inland Premier League clash with South Armidale at Johnson Field on Saturday.
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The reigning Premier League champions suffered their first defeat since 2017 last week at the hands of Demon Knights.
Tamworth FC coach Greg Bartlett said last week's loss was "probably a good thing" for his side.
"For one thing it will get everyone to stop talking about when we would lose one," Bartlett told The Northern Daily Leader.
"DK [Demon Knights] are a good side and played really well last week and deserved the win.
"We did a few things wrong and had our chances throughout the day.
"However, our loss last week boils down to one thing; we weren't good enough on the day, simple as that."
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Bartlett said his side would take a lot of lessons from the loss to the Demon Knights.
"I think as a team you always have to be learning," he said.
"It's a very tight competition this year and anyone can beat anyone on their day.
"While we weren't good enough against the Demon Knights we will take the positives out of the game and focus on this week."
Last week's loss was the club's first in the Premier League since 2017, although it was not their most recent defeat.
FC's upcoming opponent, South Armidale, was the last team to get the better of the reining premiers, defeating them on penalties during the FFA Cup.
"South Armidale are a very good side and I don't think their position on the ladder truly reflected how tough a side they are," Bartlett said.
"They are a young, fit and fast side, who are always fairly tough to beat.
"I think they showed that against us a few times last season and in the FFA Cup."
Tamworth FC will have a new look to it on Saturday, as key midfielder Chris Hughes will sit out the rest of the season with a knee injury.
"Chris will be a big loss for us and it will mean we as a team will need to step up," Bartlett said.
"I think Zac Kam is more than up to filling that role for us.
"He has had a good start to the season and should be able to take on that little bit of extra responsibility.
"If we can take a positive approach into our games going forward we should be pretty competitive."
Bartlett said the side would "really focus on our finishing" this weekend.
"Our finishing in front of goal has been our bug bear throughout the season so far," he said.
"We have done pretty well so far, I think we have scored 14 goals so far and only conceded three or four.
"But we haven't quite finished as well as we would of liked and if we can start doing that the results will hopefully look after themselves."
In the round's other Premier League action, East Armidale will play host to North Companions at Doody Park. North Armidale will look to recover from last weekend's double-header with a bye this weekend.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
