MICHAEL Rankine scored a goal-of-the-season contender but still said sorry to his Altrincham team-mates after squandering the chance of a late winner against Guiseley on Saturday.

Set up by Damian Reeves near the end of a hard-fought 1-1 National League home draw, Alty frontrunner Rankine crashed a close-range shot against the bar, with the goal gaping.

"Michael apologised in the dressing room afterwards and was quite distraught, but I told him not to be so daft," said Alty boss Lee Sinnott.

"I could tell at the time the ball was slightly behind him, and the chance was not as easy as it might have looked.

"He was attacking the box at pace when Reevesie rolled the ball back to him.

"That's what you want him to do, but it maybe didn't help when it came to readjusting his feet to stick it away.

"It could have made the difference, had it gone in, but he didn't do it deliberately.

"Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.

"You can gauge Michael's impact for us by the fact he's now scored 10 league goals in 10 different games.

"Everyone wants to score hat-tricks and braces, but I like the fact he has had a positive effect on the outcome in 10 games this season.

"It was a wonderful strike to put us ahead. I was saying to (assistant-manager) Neil Tolson we needed to be a bit more aggressive with our forward play in the final third.

"We needed that stronger surge.

"One minute later, Michael cuts in from the left, shows strength to hold off challenges, has one more touch, then bang. That was him at his best and something the game was crying out for.

"Overall it was much more like it, after the disappointment of Chester last Tuesday.

"I told the players afterwards I'll take the draws against Wrexham and Lincoln and I'll take this one as well, because there were positive signs and they were performances that could have led to wins."

Alty hope injury concerns over Simon Richman, Adam Griffin and Jordan Sinnott will clear in time for their next outing – a home game with Macclesfield Town a week on Saturday.