HE might have been hungry, but Ian Street used a food analogy to explain what ingredients he needs to make his side one to savour. 

“We’ve got the meat, but we’re missing some gravy,” said the 1874 Northwich boss.

“Does that make sense?”

Even if it doesn’t, he’s a manager that knows what he wants.

1874 ended their debut season in the North West Counties League top flight placed third in the table, 16 points adrift of champions Glossop North End.

Runners-up Runcorn Linnets were a mere six better off.

Asked if he’d have signed up for a top-three finish last summer had it been offered to him, Street doesn’t hesitate to reply ‘Yes, absolutely’.

He added: “I always felt privately we had enough quality to be in the top six.

“Managers are always bullish at the start of the season when there’s sometimes a forced sense of ambition, so lots of people were saying the same thing.

“We’ve perhaps done a bit better than I thought, though there’s a risk you can get greedy and start looking at silly points we’ve dropped along the way.

“Could we have got closer to the top two? Possibly.

“Glossop have been exceptional, they’ve set the standard we have to try and reach.”

1874 inflicted half of the Hillmen’s four league defeats, becoming the only opponent to beat Chris Willcock’s men home and away.

They lost a third meeting, in an FA Vase tie before Christmas, clouded by Lee Jones’ first-half dismissal.

Encouraged, Street certainly finds the prospect of challenging for promotion appetising.

He said: “I want to go for it next year.

“Let’s give it a right good crack, and see what happens.

“That’s what our supporters will expect after finishing as high as we have, and I don’t blame them either.”

He doesn’t plan a revolution, nor does he think one is necessary, to turn 1874 into contenders for a second promotion in what will be only the club’s thirds season.

On the contrary, the players that ended the campaign in green shirts will be the ones he hopes to see again at training when preparations for next term start.

To those, he hopes to add two or three recruits.

The gravy, if you like.

“When you’ve finished third, then it does make it easier to attract players,” he said.

“People will look at the table and automatically expect us to be up there again along with Runcorn and one or two others.

“I do think we need a couple of signings, but that’s only part of where we need to improve.

“Sometimes I feel we’ve been mentally lacking, and we need to shape up better with a different kind of character.

Look at the Blackpool game [last month], which we lost; that’s a typical example of how we’ve dropped points here and there.

“I wanted us to start quickly, but were the lads ready in their heads for it?

“Those margins will make the difference, because the records show that the champions of this league only lose three or four games.

“It’s rare they can afford more than that.”

Asked if Witton Albion’s relegation from the Northern Premier League’s top flight was an added incentive to win the title next season, he was diplomatic.

“Not for me, no,” he said.

“I haven’t got that rivalry ingrained in me.

“I’ve nothing against Witton, and I won’t be thinking that the best reason to go up is a chance to play them.

“Obviously it’s something our supporters probably feel differently about.

“But it’s still a long way off; this league will be even harder next year.

“That’s what I need to be worrying about right now.

“We need to work out how we can pick up a dozen or so more points.

“The truth is I don’t think we’re too far away.”