Gateshead currently sit sixth in the Vanarama National League North table with 12 games played – the fewest in the entire division – and are 10 points behind league leaders AFC Fylde with a maximum of 12 points to gain from their four games in hand.<\/p>\n
Player-manager Williamson isn’t thinking any further than Tuesday’s test however, telling gateshead-fc.com: “We’re just focused on the next game.<\/p>\n
“Our games in hand mean nothing until we approach them. It’s still early on so I don’t read anything into it, and we’re making sure we’re prepared for the next game.”<\/p>\n
Tuesday’s visitors have won two and lost one since interim manager John Askey took the reins following the departure of former Heed manager Steve Watson, with York occupying ninth place in the league table.<\/p>\n
“That always has an initial response, everyone is fighting for places,” added Williamson.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard to keep a full squad of players happy so it’s natural for some players to become a bit despondent, but when a new manager comes in it raises the energy of the whole squad.<\/p>\n
“They’re a big club and they’ve got a very good squad so it’s going to be a really tough one.<\/p>\n
“We know physically they’ve got three good target men in Clayton Donaldson, Mark Beck and Kurt Willoughby which will be a handful, but I’m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
“Every player is fighting to make a good impression and will want to demonstrate that they can play in [Askey’s] style, but for us it’s all about controlling our preparation and looking after our own performance first.”<\/p>\n
Williamson offered positive news on the fitness of Macaulay Langstaff, who was substituted off late on against Charlton Athletic after returning to the starting 11.<\/p>\n
“Macaulay trained today, so he’s all good,” said the player-manager.<\/p>\n
“We’re looking forward to another big game. Friday night was obviously disappointing but we took a lot of positives and will take that confidence into Tuesday.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"