Shaymen boss Millington aiming to end the year on a high in Boxing Day clash at Altrincham

The Shaymen returned to action on Tuesday after a two-week break, winning 1-0 at Guiseley in the third round of the FA Trophy.

And they could end 2022 in the play-offs if they win at Altrincham and other results go their way.

"We want to win every game, you'll be sick to death of me saying that by the end of the season, but we go to Altrincham with every intention of having a game-plan and a team that can win us the game," said Town boss Chris Millington.

"This will mark the end of the first-half of the season for us and we want to finish it in the vein of form we're in at the moment by taking three points and keep working our way up the table."

Town will train on Friday and Saturday, with Millington handing every first-team player a good chunk of game-time this week, either in Tuesday's win at Guiseley or Wednesday's West Riding County Cup defeat on penalties against Albion Sports.

"We were saying on the sideline at Guiseley that, imagine if we were going into the Altrincham game having not played since Dorking, it would have been awful," said the Town boss.

"So we're really pleased we got those minutes under our belt.

"Going into the game we should hopefully have every fit player who's got a good number of minutes and is ready to start a league game.

"Because we've not played since Dorking it opens up the starting positions for the Altrincham game, nothing is a given.

"Having a good number of fit players within the squad and lads who've got 90 minutes under their belt really gives us a selection headache going into the game."

Harvey Gilmour produced another excellent midfield display on Tuesday, while match-winner Festus Arthur also impressed.

Along with the likes of Tylor Golden and Angelo Capello, they are among the first names on the team-sheet at the moment, despite not featuring regularly at the start of the season.

"We always had the belief that those lads were at least good National League players and we had high hopes for them," Millington said.

"But in some cases you're not always sure whether it will take a bit longer to acclimatise to the level and to the style of play.

"But they're all bright, hard-working lads so we had every faith they'd get there and they've probably got to the level a bit quicker than we might have expected in some cases, and we're really pleased they have."

When asked about the 3-4-2-1 system which Town again lined-up in at Guiseley, Millington said: "It's one that the players are comfortable in, it suits the personnel we've got available.

"I think the Solihull game was the first time we played it and we've performed well since then in it.

"We're flexible, we'll play the system that best suits the group of players available at any given time, so it's not fixed by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly working well for us at the moment."

Town have only failed to score once in their last 14 games, but are still the second-lowest scorers in the National League.

"Lack of goals is only a concern really if you're not scoring at all and conceding a lot, and at the moment we are scoring goals, albeit not as many as we'd like, but we've never been a team that puts five or six past teams regularly in my time here," Millington said.

"More often than not, we'll win by the odd goal and at the moment that's enough to get us the results, so long may that continue.

"At some point we might concede one or two more, which might lead to us having to take more risks going forward and committing more numbers forward.

"But for the moment, what's working is getting 1-0's and 2-0s and we'll continue to do that if that's what works."

Altrincham can overtake Halifax in the table if they win on Boxing Day.

"I like Altrincham, it's a club I know well, I started out my coaching career there with their youth team many years ago," Millington said.

"I know the club very well and I know what Phil (Parkinson) and Neil (Sorvel) have done their since they joined, when Altrincham were in the NPL.

"The brand of football hasn't changed since they were at Nantwich, they've always wanted to play the same way.

"It's an enjoyable game because you have to be switched on to the style of play and the ways they'll rotate and try to open us up.

"We'll know where their weaknesses are and how we can get at them, but it's a fixture we always enjoy going into because there's an element of a tactical battle we can get our teeth into."

Millington is expecting a better game against Altrincham than the scrappy contest at Guiseley.

"Without a doubt. I think we'll have good spells of possession, they'll look to have good spells of possession," he said.

"They've got Ryan Colclough, who's flying at the moment, playing fantastically well.

"They'll look to play an attractive brand of football and we'll look to do the same, whether we've got the ball or not we'll always approach it in the same way."

You can follow all the action from the game at Altrincham on Boxing Day with our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post-match reaction from Town boss Millington.