ADAM Lockwood believes a blank weekend has come at an ideal time for Guiseley after they edged through to the next round of the West Riding County Cup on penalties.

The Lions drew 2-2 at home to Albion Sports in the second round of the county cup on Tuesday before goalkeeper Dan Atkinson was the hero as he saved the Northern Counties East League side's final spot kick in a 5-4 shootout win.

Now Guiseley have a ten-day break before resuming their fight for survival in the National League at home to Torquay United on Saturday, November 12.

Boss Lockwood said: “We have lads who have come into the side who haven’t played in a long time so it gives them a little break.

“The lads have done really well for me and I’d like to think everybody has gone above and beyond for the club. Some have stepped straight in, probably when they weren’t ready.

"It’s a positive to me as it shows what characters we have got in the squad."

Goals from Erico De Sousa and Tom Lyman gave a much-changed line-up a 2-0 lead against Albion, who hit back to force penalties after a late equaliser.

Lockwood was delighted with the competitiveness of the game and said the players got more out of the tie than if they had won comfortably.

He said: “In this competition you come up against lads who don’t half give it a go. It was a good game. They’ve come and given us a good test which is what we want.

“If you go and beat teams easily, you don’t learn a lot out of it. It’s great we've had a competitive game."

Lockwood played the full game himself and added: “Lads who haven’t played in a while got 90 minutes which is great.

“A few young lads came in and did really well so it’s good to see. Hopefully we can build on it and keep going.”

Meanwhile, Guiseley have confirmed that winger Nicky Clee has left the club by mutual consent.

The 33-year-old arrived from Altrincham in the summer but has found it increasingly difficult to manage his family and work commitments alongside playing.