Cox demands a response from Kettering Town players

Paul Cox will be seeking “a response” from his Kettering Town players when they take on Southport at Latimer Park tomorrow (Saturday).

It’s been a mixed start to the new campaign for the Poppies after their 2-0 win over Chelmsford City in the second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup last weekend was followed by a poor display as they were beaten 3-1 at Gloucester City in their opening Vanarama National League North match of the season on Tuesday night.

Cox was far from impressed with his team’s first-half performance in midweek as the Poppies also had Sam Jones sent-off for two bookable offences.

And the Kettering boss is now clear that consistency has to be the target for his team.

“I am looking for a response,” he said.

“It’s really early days but I am hoping a lesson has been learned from the other night and if it hasn’t then I will have to act.

“The performance we put in last Saturday was excellent but we have got to realise that we can’t sit back and just admire our last display.

“I am looking for consistency. If the players didn’t know what they are up against before, they understand it now because we had a discussion after the game.

“We can’t turn up and play one good game and then have a bad one. We have to be consistent with what we do.”

Kettering were rewarded for their FA Cup win last weekend with a Northamptonshire derby in the third qualifying round after they were handed a trip to league rivals Brackley Town.

That tie will be played behind closed doors at Brackley’s St James Park next Tuesday night.

And Cox added: “You can look at cup draws in a number of way but when it came out, I looked at it as a positive.

“It’s a game we will try to attack. It’s a local derby and the only disappointing thing is that the supporters of both clubs can’t be there because it’s the sort of game that would have an amazing atmosphere.

“The learning curve for us comes from the Tuesday night that has just gone. This will be another away game on a Tuesday night and we will have to apply ourselves better otherwise we will be out of the FA Cup.”