Millington urges Shaymen to seize their chance to make up lost ground as Oldham clash kicks off hectic month of games

Halifax visit strugglers Oldham on Saturday before hosting high-flying Barnet on Tuesday, with further league matches against Southend, Boreham Wood, Solihull, Maidenhead and Wealdstone to come before the end of February.

And Millington wants his team to seize the chance to make up lost ground in their bid for a place in the top-seven.

"With each game it feels like they're just slipping that bit further away from us if we're not winning games," he said.

"As I always say, we go into every game with the intention of winning it.

"But there's extra emphasis at the moment, we've got a tough run of games throughout February in terms of the opposition we've got to play and in terms of the schedule we've got to face.

"But it's a great opportunity for us to really start to mount a challenge, to build towards those play-off places so that'll be the emphasis and that's what we're going to be working to try and achieve."

Town edged past Harrow Borough in the FA Trophy on penalties on Tuesday night after a 2-2 draw, and Millington concedes The Shaymen will have to up their game against Oldham on Saturday.

"Without a doubt, but we will, the lads will for sure," he said.

"These games (Harrow) are the real tough ones.

"Getting yourself up for a Notts County or an Oldham is a piece of cake, big stadium, big ground, big crowd.

"A league game where there's something on it and it feels more important.

"That's not to say the lads weren't up for Tuesday because they absolutely were, and they're motivated for every game, but anybody who knows the game knows that my job as a motivator becomes much easier when you've got a big opposition, a big stadium and a big following to perform in-front of.

"So we're really excited and looking forward to it."

Millington does feel there have been positives to build on over the last couple of games though.

"The Notts County game, without overstating it because we lost the game, so we're not happy with it, but we're certainly happy with many aspects of the organisation, the defensive structure and the energy we brought to that," he said.

"Now, if we can build on that against a team who we expect to have more possession against than we did with Notts County, then we think we can hurt them.

"So it's just about those two aspects of the game more than any other, in being really compact and difficult to break down, difficult to beat when we've not got the ball, but then hurting them with better possession when we do win it back."

On his former employers Oldham, who are one place and two points above the relegation zone, Millington said: "A real challenge, a team that's made a bit of a turnaround recently.

"They're getting a lot more out of their two strikers who are starting more often than not, in Nuttall and Fondop.

"They're a real handful.

"They'll be up for it, they'll be really looking forward to us coming to town.

"I think it'll be a really interesting game.

"What we've got to learn to do is deal well with that direct play and we've got to be landing on more seconds when we're winning first contacts, when our back lads are heading it back into the pitch, the thing I've been disappointed with us in the last two games is that we're not landing on and tidying up enough in midfield.

"So that's something we've really got to focus our energies on over the next couple of days.

"But we're looking forward to it and we go into it with every expectation of winning."