SEAN St Ledger knows Guiseley face a tricky fixture on Saturday at home to West Yorkshire rivals Halifax but feels form and quality are not necessarily the keys to victory.

The Lions boss believes sheer hard graft can be all-important in the derby encounter as he looks to kick-start a survival bid that is rapidly running out of time.

He said: "I think it's a tough game. They've had two fantastic results (against Dagenham and Woking). I went to their game on Tuesday and that was good for me to see the way they play.

"In a local derby though it's not always about playing the best football, it's about who shows the most heart, grit and determination."

St Ledger has observed plenty of that fighting spirit on the training ground, despite a heartbreaking late 2-1 loss at Bromley which leaves them 11 points off safety with ten games left.

He insists his side's lowly league position has not affected attitude, claiming: "The players are a pleasure to work with. The supporters and neutrals might see a team that are bottom of the table and have given up, but I know that they're giving everything they've got.

"We believe that we can stay up and everyone's working hard to achieve that goal."

John Rooney scored his second goal in three games on Saturday, but St Ledger did not want to focus too much on individual performances.

He said: "I think the team in general have been playing well and I think everyone's on the same page, working hard and winning second balls.

"The final ball was the only thing lacking last Saturday.

"Steadily, we've been improving game by game and Saturday was our best performance to date."

Their match at Bromley turned on Victor Nirrenold's late red card, and although it was frustrating for St Ledger, he backed his defender.

He said: "I'm not frustrated with him because I don't think the first one was a yellow card, I thought he made a really good tackle in that instance.

"Having watched the replay (for the second bookable offence), I thought that their attacker did really well. I felt like he slowed up and Victor went into the back of him. The striker got in front of him and he was clever.

"In football that happens, so there is no blame pointed at Victor, but obviously it was frustrating because we were in control of the game and arguably had the best chances."