WITTON’S manager, Tony Sullivan, has said the manner of his side’s victory against Skelmersdale on Saturday is a mark of their progress on the pitch.

Albion had to resist pressure from the play-offs hopefuls after half time, but protected an advantage established by Zac Corbett’s goal before Jamie Rainford steered in a second with seven minutes left.

It leaves Sullivan’s men five points clear of the relegation zone.

He said: “It wasn’t pretty, perhaps one of our worst afternoons in terms of the football we were able to play.

“But we hung on, and scored at good times.

“We’ve struggled in the past to grind out a result, to be scrappy and not lose.

“To beat Skem you have to be structured and compact, to do a professional job.

“It would be stupid to let a team with their quality play, because they’ll kill you.”

Witton, beaten only once in their past eight league matches, host Rushall next on Tuesday.

Despite a wider gap to the bottom four, Sullivan insists there is work to do.

“The job isn’t finished,” he added.

“There will be no relaxing. We can’t, because our objective is to stay in this division and we haven’t made certain that will happen.”

Asked by the Guardian if he spent much time studying the standings, the former Cammell Laird boss’ answer was unequivocal.

He said: “What’s the point of sitting there and staring at the table?

“I read people saying we had to beat King’s Lynn in midweek. Why? Because they didn’t think we’d beat Skem?

“Teams close to us have lost, but that’s no good unless we’ve put points on the board.

“The players deserve credit; they were down after losing on Tuesday when they were better than the opposition.

“But this dressing room is tight now, and I described to each player before the game what they bring to the club and why they’re valued.

“Nobody has typified that more than Alex Titchiner – he’s arrived at the party with his performance.

“That’s the striker I was excited to manage when I came here. We need him, and we believe in him.”