Stamford were stifled in a goalless opening day draw with a decent Shepshed side on Saturday before going down 2-1 at newly-promoted Glapwell on Tuesday night.

They now face last year's beaten play-off semi-final finalists Stocksbridge Park Steels – who have won both their opening games so far this season – at the Vic Couzens Stadium on Saturday before travelling to Brigg Town on Monday.

And Keast is looking for his new-look side to start delivering the goods after a promising pre-season programme.

He said: "One point out of six isn't good enough.

"It's important now that we stick together because we know that this league isn't going to be easy."

Keast's charges were guilty of squandering a whole host of chances at Glapwell on Tuesday as their hosts snatched an unlikely victory.

He commented: "It was absolutely unbelievable. Those sort of games come along once in a blue moon.

"Every chance we created seemed better than the one before. Some of people reckoned we had 15 really good chances and I wouldn't disagree with that.

"A draw would have been bad enough considering the amount of chances we had, but losing wasn't on the agenda.

"We showed our inexperience by not taking the chances which was displeasing thing because we didn't hit the target enough times.

"The pleasing thing is that we are creating chances, but we need to show a little bit more composure."

Stamford's expected promotion credentials will face a tough test on Saturday when Stocksbridge bring their 100 per cent record to town.

Gary Marrow's team opened their campaign with 2-1 away win at his former club Grantham on Saturday before bashing Brigg Town 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Keast though can take heart from his side's defensive display which kept a highly-rated Shepshed team at bay in Saturday's opening day duel.

He added: "Shepshed were a decent side. We knew that every ball they played would be long and worked on that in training because it is something we will face a lot this season.

"We defended well, but didn't create enough chances which wasn't very pleasing on the eye.

"Stocksbridge will be a difficult game, but if we can get things together we'll start picking up points because it's not all doom and gloom."