The Leader turned me into a nerd. I used to be a normal, well-adjusted individual, but now I am constantly absorbed by a range of massive spreadsheets and obscure statistical websites. It’s all this fine publication’s fault!

The reason? When I started writing these columns I had to produce an article on our record against our immediate opponents. That was straightforward enough when we were in the Football League, but once we dropped down to the National League it became a challenge!

Week after week I was having to come up with 500 words on our record against opponents we had never played against before! I needed some way to dig down and find statistical data which was worth writing about. The solution was to make those enormous spreadsheets, so I could then drill deep into the stats and eke out some facts from the coalface of football facts.

Some of the stats were buried deep, crushed by the weight of years into something I could use. If you haven’t noticed the mining metaphor yet, you may want to move to a lower set.

Anyway, I’m addicted to those spreadsheets now, and pull odd information out after every game for the #WxmAnorak feature on the club’s website.

Consulting those wonders of IT, I discovered a rather opaque club record which we equalled on Saturday, but too late to mention in #WxmAnorak. Therefore, here’s a Leader exclusive, to repay the life-changing nerdiness which I’ve had thrust upon me.

On Saturday, we won 1-0 for the 11^th time this season. That equals the club record, set in 2018-19 by Dean Keates’ side which ground its way through a promotion challenge on the sound foundations of an iron-clad back four.

That side relied on an almost undisturbed unit at the back: Kevin Roberts, Manny Smith, Shaun Pearson, James Jennings. Stick the energy of Sam Wedgbury and Akil Wright in front of them and you have a defence you can rely on.

This season our promotion push is based on strength in depth, with a range of high quality defenders ready to step in once the necessity presents itself.

Of course, Keates’ side accumulated 1-0s because we struggled to create chances, with Scott Bodin only grabbing a couple of goals up front. Keates wrangled with his team to try to inject more creativity, signing Nicky Deverdics and slotting Marcus Kelly into the centre of the pitch rather than one of his midfield destroyers.

There’s a certain similarity between that side and Phil Parkinson’s side, and that’s why they’ve equalled the record of one-goal victories.

We’ve accumulated clean sheets hand over fist, and will post one of the most impressive tallies of shut-outs in a season as long as we don’t lose form.

At the other end, the goals haven’t flowed lately, but there’s an important comparison to be made here. Teams that grind out 1-0s challenge for promotion. The ability to find a way to win, as we did in that massive victory at Wycombe last weekend, is what earns success.

Keates’ side were fourth when he left to take over at Walsall. He signed off with a derby win over Chester (with a 2-0 scoreline, which was somewhat out of character!)

This team has a similar steel about it. It will go toe-to-toe with opponents and duke it out. There’s a reassuring resolve about the way they go about their business, and in the run-in the beautiful game becomes a results-based business. Every point counts.

If you want expansive football, you’re more likely to get it at The Rock. The women’s team are absolutely on fire: seven consecutive wins in which we’ve hit the net 25 times! We’ve scored four or more goals seven times in our last eighteen games, including a ten and an eleven!

Momentum like that is rare, though. What Parkinson’s side is doing is terrific, and unlike the teams around us there’s a sense we have more gears to go through.

Sam Smith is clearly a high quality striker, and he’ll score goals without lots of good service. Last Saturday offered proof of this, as he made a chance by chasing a lost cause, hitting the post out of nothing. He then scored the winner with an exquisite volley. Did I mention that we won 1-0?

When we are able to offer more service to Smith, logic suggests that he’ll score lots more goals. However, we’ve proven that we can get a result if we hit the net just once, if necessary.

Parkinson knows how to get promotion, even if it’s one goal at a time.