The New Saints manager Scott Ruscoe is looking forward to seeing his side take on Connah’s Quay Nomads on Friday night.

Saints lost the top spot to Nomads last Friday when they failed to beat Bala Town away.

Nomads won their Friday night match against Caernarfon Town to go one point ahead of TNS at the top of the league.

Despite dropping points, Ruscoe was pleased with his side’s performance.

“I thought we did really well,” he said. “Conceding in the fifth minute because of an own goal obviously puts you up against it.

“But after that, we totally dominated the game and Bala didn’t really have anything going forward.

“I think Paul [Harrison] had one save to make which he palmed away comfortably, but apart from that, we weren’t really troubled.

“We must have had about 70 to 75 per cent possession throughout the evening, and we created some good chances.

“I feel like we were just lacking a bit of luck to finish those chances in the end.”

Saints conceded early through an Aeron Edwards own goal, before equalising through Ryan Brobbel’s penalty in the second half.

Ruscoe remains convinced his side are the better of the two teams, but gave credit to the Lakesiders.

He said: “We’ve beaten them most of the times we’ve played them and had lots of wins against them and lots of joy.

“I think Bala are fitter now and they defend in numbers which helps them.

“We’ll take our hat off to them – they’ve made a few new signings as well and strengthened quite well, but I think we’re still a far better side in comparison.”

With TNS a point behind the top spot, Ruscoe hopes his side will return to the top with a win against Nomads on Friday night.

He added: “It would be nice to bounce back with a win after stuttering a little bit.

“We’ve lost one, drawn one, so it would be nice for us to get back to winning ways and get back to the top of the table.

“Last time we played away at Connah’s Quay, we dominated from start to finish and I really thought it was one of our best performances of the season.

“We need to step up to the mark, and usually we do when we’re playing on television and facing Connah’s Quay.

“We’ve got a very good record against them and I expect nothing less than that on Friday night.”

Saints will travel to Deeside to take on Connah’s Quay Nomads on Friday night (kick-off 8pm).