Altrincham marked a visit by legendary former boss Tony Sanders with a performance that extended their unbeaten league run to 10 games and had current manager Phil Parkinson singing their praises at The J.Davidson Stadium on Saturday.

Sanders, who made the Robins national non-league champions two years running in the early 80s and established them as the country’s most famous FA Cup giantkillers, was guest of honour against Southend United.

And Parkinson’s side rose to the challenge with goals from Justin Amaluzor and substitute Justin Donawa in a 2-0 win that reinforced their hold on fifth place in the National League before a crowd of 2,558.

“There was a bit of pressure on, with an all-time great like Tony being here, but it just made it extra special that everything went so well,” said Parkinson. “That’s 10 unbeaten, and I don’t mind saying we are making a big noise.

“That’s what I want us to do. There’s no point playing things down. We have different aspirations now, because we know what we can do in this division. There can be no resting on laurels - we’ve got to keep pushing forward and doing all the things that have got us this far.

“It was a really top game and one we thoroughly deserved to win. Lewis Baines and Jake Cooper did a fantastic job of keeping them quiet and reducing their chances to very little. We are so far ahead of where we were this time last season, defensively, and at the other end, we’ve always got the firepower to hurt teams.

“I was delighted with both our goals. They were well worked and well coached goals, the sort we’ve been scoring recently, and that’s not luck. It’s down to all the good work that goes into training, and it’s rewarding to see it come off. The club is buzzing at the moment - it’s a great place to be.”

Alty are away to Eastleigh on Saturday before heading to the Crown Oil Arena to face Rochdale on Tuesday evening.