Big week ahead for Corby and me, says boss Mills

Corby Town boss Gary Mills pictured during last weekend's 4-2 defeat at Coleshill Town. Picture by Jim Darrah

Gary Mills believes the next week is a big one for Corby Town - and for him.

The Steelmen are gearing up for three home games in a row as they take on second-placed Chasetown at Steel Park on Saturday before hosting fellow mid-table side Sporting Khalsa in the Northern Premier League Midlands next Wednesday night.

That is then followed by a tough Buildbase FA Trophy third qualifying round home clash with Southern League Premier Central side Banbury United, who remain unbeaten in all competitions so far this season.

Mills had been hoping for his team to show their credentials when they headed to fifth-placed Coleshill Town last weekend but they conceded two early goals and eventually slipped to a 4-2 defeat.

And Mills knows that for the club’s and his own sakes, wins must start coming if they are to climb the table.

“It’s a big week for us,” the Corby manager said.

“We have two league games at home on Saturday and Wednesday and then we have another big game at home in the FA Trophy next weekend.

“I said it last week that we needed to go to Coleshill and show we can be a team that can go and challenge a side higher than us and we didn’t so it backfired on my words.

“We were 2-0 down inside seven minutes and we very nearly got back into it but it was a disappointing weekend for a lot of reasons.

“I am not stupid, I have been in the game long enough to know that we now need to start showing what we can do.

“But it’s a massive week for everyone connected with the club and it’s certainly a massive week for me.

“My job is first to be successful at the club and I now need to get my team winning football matches to get us up there.

“I am not going to let a defeat at Coleshill take away from the progression we had started to make ahead of that game.

“But I am also not going to beat around the bush. We need to start producing performances that will win us football matches against teams like Chasetown who sit second in the league.”

Mills will have midfielder Joe Curtis back from suspension for this weekend’s game but central defender Lewis White is set to miss out again due to a knee injury that has hampered him for much of the season.

And boss Mills insists the important thing now is to ensure White gets the right treatment to enable him to return to action on a permanent basis.

“It is concerning,” the Steelmen boss added.

“He had an operation on the knee in the summer and we missed him at the start of the season.

“Lewis is a player who I believe will go back into the Football League, that’s how important he is to us and he is to me as a manager.

“It’s disappointing that he’s not recovered as expected and we have to get it right for him from a personal point of view.

“You can’t have a knee injury and just be in and out of the team. We have to get it right for him.

“We are all disappointed but he is a player with a future and we are going down the right route for him, he is seeing the right people.”