"You can see much more of a togetherness now" - Millington on team spirit, selection headaches and Boreham Wood

Halifax were expected to be vying with clubs like Boreham Wood in and around the top seven of the table, but instead find themselves eight points adrift of the play-offs after a mixed start to the season, although they have only lost once in their last seven league games, winning four.

Millington believes Saturday's game is a good marker for where his side are at the moment.

"Definitely, it's never an easy game against Boreham Wood and they're obviously doing very well in the league in terms of league position, close to the play-offs, and they'll be expecting to have a play-off finish," Millington said.

"Games against the likes of Boreham Wood are always a great marker for whether or not we're going to be as good as we think we can be.

"We'll pay them every respect but we want to prove that we're a team who can compete at that end of the table."

Boreham Wood are one place outside the play-off places after a run of five league matches without a win.

"We know Boreham Wood well, we know how Luke Garrard sets up, he's been at the club for a long time and he's a very successful National League manager in what he's achieved with the club," said Millington.

"We've got a very tough game with the quality of the players they've got and the quality of the play they'll bring to The Shay.

"One thing that's always true to Boreham Wood is they're very strong defensively, they have an excellent defensive structure, they've got an excellent work ethic out of possession so we don't expect them to give us any chances that we don't have to work for.

"I'd hope people will say the same about us now, in the early part of the season we were probably seen as a bit of a soft touch but more recently, we've been much more difficult to beat and to break down."

Millington said Town's game-free week has been vital in recharging the batteries ahead of three matches in eight days, starting on Saturday.

"Hugely important, I think anyone who saw the game on Saturday saw a very tired second-half performance," said the Town boss.

"Their goal comes off the back of some uncharacteristic play in that we lost our shape and our structure, got a bit caught up in trying to do things too urgently and got punished as a result.

"Some of our inability to get hold of the ball and get ourselves playing the way we had in the first-half was as a result of some of that fatigue we'd accumulated playing with 10 men against Ebbsfleet and then putting so much into a tough game against Solihull, and putting so much into the first-half at Bromley, it all caught up with us in that second-half."

Millington feels there is a different mentality about his side that has developed over the last few weeks.

"I think they've got to know each other, some of those social connections have been made, some of those footballing connections have started to become more evident," he said.

"So there's definitely a togetherness that wasn't as present in the early part of the season.

"We can put that down to the fact that there was such a new group of players, and also that some of the significant characters from previous seasons - the likes of Martin Woods, Kieran Green, Billy Waters - had moved on and there was a bit of a vacuum that needed to be filled.

"Those roles and responsibilities have been filled and you can see much more of a togetherness now and that players are playing for each other and that they get on both on and off the pitch."

And the Town boss says there is a lot more to come from his squad, especially when The Shaymen's injury list begins to clear up.

"Loads, not only have we got quality on the bench that we've got to see more out of, and we will start to the see presence of certain players like Milli Alli and Yamen Osawe more often," he said.

"We've Jordan Keane not a million miles away from coming back, Jordan Slew is the same, Festus Arthur is a couple of weeks off, Jesse Debrah's back in and around it now.

"So there's an awful lot to come from the group in terms of the ability we're missing out on and that's not even mentioning Matty Warburton's now becoming more match sharp and not a million miles off being ready to start games.

"So there's an awful lot of talent within the group we're not seeing at the moment because they're not fully available, but going forward we carry a significant threat and a significant talent with those players who are yet to come back into the fold."

Performance levels have improved drastically over the last few weeks, helped in no small part by players who had been struggling for regular game time at the start of the season.

"We've got some young lads who have proved they're of the level and are able to perform to a high standard at this level, like Jamie Cooke with his goal contribution, Angelo Capello's been fantastic and demonstrated a versatility in playing different positions," Millington said.

"It's the same with Jack Hunter, who's done a job in the back three and Harvey Gilmour, who's played a variety of positions for us this season.

"So there are a number of lads there who've come in and done very well.

"It's up to the players who are coming back to full fitness to work hard and prove they're ready and able to come in and make us stronger.

"Competition for places is something we really want, I know the players will embrace it as well.

"They want to be pushed and made better by competition within the squad."

Millington added: "Ultimately, we know what we want to be and what shape we want to play in an ideal world.

"We know how we want to attack teams and how we want to defend against teams.

"It's about putting the best team out to be able to do that, so it's up to the players to put themselves in the position to be selected to then go out and do a job for the team, and when they're given that opportunity, make sure they do it to the very best of their ability.

"We're not going to be just expecting lads to have one shot at it and do it first time if they've been out for a while, we need to be realistic and make sure we give them an opportunity to do it over possibly more than one game.

"It takes a bit of time to get them back up to match sharpness but the great thing is having competition for places will push the players who've already got the shirt and encourage those who are striving to strive that little bit harder."

Town have taken four points from the last two games - at Solihull and Bromley - playing a 3-4-2-1 system.

When asked if he would be sticking with that formation on Saturday, Millington said: "We select the formation based on the players who are available.

"We know we can play a 4-3-3, the 3-5-2 has worked on occasions but more recently, that version of the 3-4-3 we've played has been very effective.

"It's great to have those options but we'll base it on who's available come Thursday and we'll start to make our plan for how we're going to try and beat Boreham Wood and that will dictate what the shape is."