Danny Grainger praises his players following a perfect start to the campaign.

Manager Danny Grainger has said his players have already ‘stood-up’ to the test following a perfect start to the Northern Premier League campaign.

Grainger, who has been in charge of back-to-back victories so far this season for Reds, spoke about squad character, as well as the importance of the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend fixtures, both on and off the pitch.

There’s been a lot of questions labelled at the lads when we first started, regarding the way we play and if we could roll our sleeves up and things like that, but I think they’ve stood-up to that test and showed that on Tuesday night, especially.

We were set a challenge and they’ve stood-up to get the result we deserved. Myself and Ruddy both said at 0-0 that there was only one team who was going to knick it.

The Saturday-Monday schedule may have seemed gruelling from afar but the ‘vitally important games’ are something Grainger feels confident about given the depth in his dynamic squad.

We’ve got the squad to deal with it. We’ll have to make changes no matter what happens, and there’s no reason why they can’t go out there and get a result.

It could be a hugely beneficial Bank Holiday for the club, with the FA Cup’s grand tradition and prize money up for grabs ahead of what could be a bumper Borough Park crowd, with the manager well-aware of both’s implications.

The FA Cup is vital to all the clubs in non-league with the revenue being so important.

We’ve got to make sure that there’s money coming through the door and that we make sure things go right on the pitch.

On Monday, there’s a real chance of having a good crowd and seeing where we can all go from there.

With changes expected over the two matches in three days, Grainger says there’s a ‘couple of players with knocks,’ but the boss stressed that there is ‘no excuse’ for results in the short turnaround.

We’ll obviously monitor them and there’ll be changes on Saturday and changes on Monday bu there’ll be no excuses about the short turnaround from us. 

We’ve got a squad that’s capable of coping with it, and make sure we got into games full of confidence.

Grainger will oversee his first cup match as Reds boss at Newcastle Benfield on Saturday, before returning to Borough Park on Bank Holiday Monday with the visit of Pontefract Collieries.