IAN Street admits he felt uncomfortable during 1874 Northwich’s midweek clash with Barnton but collecting maximum points and staying top of the table mattered most.

Substitute Rick Bailey scored with nine minutes left to complete a comeback started by Sam Hare’s goal cancelling out Chris Quirk’s early opener for the Villagers.

It means 1874 start Saturday’s encounter with Abbey Hey a point clear of their closest rivals at the North West Counties League’s Premier Division summit.

“Barnton didn’t surprise us, but going behind put doubt in our minds,” said Street.

“It strengthened their resolve, and probably only cemented what their game-plan was anyway.

“They put men behind the ball, but always had a chance on the break.

“I wasn’t comfortable with our back four - our central pair weren’t dominant enough.

"Look at their goal; it was a straight ball down the middle but we weren’t concentrating and ended up getting punished.

“It meant the lads in our midfield had one eye looking back over their shoulder because there was a bit of uncertainty behind them.

“We dug out a result though, and those three points is what we were after.”

1874 v Barnton: five talking points

1874 will be boosted by the return of Danny Thomas this weekend after he missed Tuesday’s game for personal reasons.

However Paul Connor (ankle) and Ryan Jackson (knee) continue to be ruled out by injury, while Neil Chappell is suspended.

Street told the Guardian that he expects Abbey Hey, who have lost all five previous meetings with his side, to be more attacking than Barnton.

He added: “They’re pretty good going forward, so I think they’ll be more adventurous.

“They’re inconsistent, something I’m sure their gaffer Luke Gibson would agree with me on, but we can’t take anything for granted.

“Our approach will be no different; keep putting as many points on the board as we can.

“We were awful in our previous home game against AFC Liverpool, who were ruthless when we made mistakes.

“Our performance against Barnton was much better, and we’ll try to repeat that on Saturday."

Scott McGowan should be fit after limping off during the second half on Tuesday, but attacker Sam Hind is unavailable to face his former club.

1874 v Abbey Hey: preview