HEREFORD forward Lance Smith hopes that his side have now got a 'solid group' following a season of changes.

The 27-year-old scored his second goal after returning from a lengthy injury at Spennymoor Town on Saturday.

He says that the 'gritty' nature of their second half performance on their way to a 2-0 victory is proof of the squad's strength.

"There has always been togetherness but six months ago you might not have been that gritty performance as we dug deep," said Smith

"We need to carry this on for the rest of this season as we don't want it to fizzle out. Even Rowan (Liburd) coming in, he has gelled really well with the lads and it's a credit to the group that we've got.

"There has been a lot of faces coming and going this year, we are there now and have got that solid group to push forwards next year.

"If you have a look we have James Wesolowski and Josh Gowling in the stands today and it gives credit to everyone that we've got a really good squad to pick from, it's really strong.

"The result in the second half wasn't pretty but we dug in deep and got the three points. They had a couple (of chances) to start with but we were more clinical. We had one maybe two clear cut (chances) and the penalty.

"So a credit to us for putting them away. We will hopefully carry on the momentum for next Saturday although it's going to be tough."

Smith, playing alongside new signing Rowan Liburd in the first half, netted the opening 34th minute goal against Spennymoor Town after Kyle Finn saw his initial effort saved.

Speaking about the goal Smith said: “He (Kyle Finn) has done a one-two with the goalkeeper and passed it to me.

"I just turned and hit it as I knew where the goal was so I'm pleased.

"It's my first game with him (Liburd) and we can probably get a good partnership and when (Mike) Symons came on as well we are a threat.”