'A good bond going' as Poppies face up to a tough derby day

The Poppies make the short trip to the south of the county to take on high-flying rivals Brackley Town at St James Park on Saturday.

The Saints have stormed into the top two of the Vanarama National League North under new boss Roger Johnson in the last few weeks and have won four games in a row with former Poppies striker Callum Stead scoring both goals in their 2-0 success over Peterborough Sports on Tuesday night.

At the same time, Kettering held on for a 0-0 draw against Banbury United despite being down to 10 men for the last half-an-hour to make it four home games without defeat.

But their away form remains the big concern as they are yet to win on the road in the league this season and have shipped 17 goals in their last four matches away from Latimer Park in all competitions.

But assistant-manager Fry is hoping their battling efforts over the past week will set the Poppies up nicely for the clash at Brackley.

“We are getting a real bond going and it’s going to be a real grind because we are going Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday at the moment,” Fry said.

“But we have got players who have each other’s back.

“We definitely need to improve on the road. First and foremost, we want to make sure we pick up points at home.

“We have not had great results away from home but we have another opportunity this weekend and we will go there and try to get something from the game.

“Brackley are another very good team. There are no easy games.

“But we will go there with a bit of momentum and belief and we will try to show the same desire as we did on Tuesday night.”