SHAWBURY United must reproduce their form against the top sides when they face teams at the bottom, says assistant manager Stu Lewis ahead of a huge week for the club.

United pushed league leaders Tividale all the way last weekend before slipping to a 4-3 defeat against the runaway table-toppers.

That has been a recurring theme this season with Shawbury putting in a string of impressive performances against some of the West Midlands Premier Division’s leading lights.

But it is not reflected in their points tally as Shawbury sit 16th, just eight points clear of third-bottom Dudley Sports, who will close that gap to five if they beat United this Saturday.

Shawbury then visit high-flying Haughmond on Tuesday night before hosting 15th placed Bilston a week on Saturday in what Lewis has highlighted as an important period.

He said: “Tividale’s manager said we were one of the best teams they had played this season which is a nice comment but it makes it even more frustrating because if we played like that every week, we wouldn’t be where we are in the table.

“We have a big week coming up now and if I’m being honest, we have to win games like Dudley Sports if we want to pull away and get up into mid-table. We have to go there with confidence.”

A Brandon Tanomjit goal and a Sean Evans free-kick put Shawbury 2-1 up against the leaders but Tividale turned it around to lead 4-2 before youth product James Blenkinsop’s late consolation.

Lewis added: “We should have got something out of the game. But at 2-1 up we switched off, they scored two quickfire goals.

“Even then we almost got back in it and if we had played five minutes longer, only one team was going to score again.”

Lewis will miss this week’s games due to his nuptials and honeymoon but hopes he will return to the wedding present of a bountiful points haul.

He added: “We struggled for a consistent squad of 15-16 earlier in the season but we now seem to have a core of lads here every week. I think results will improve and we will move up the league.”