Cox wants his Poppies to avoid the 'slippery slope'

The Poppies boss kept his team locked in the dressing-room for 40 minutes after they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Altrincham at Latimer Park on Tuesday.

That made it back-to-back defeats for the first time since the manager’s arrival after his team lost 1-0 at York City last weekend.

Kettering still have work to do to guarantee their Vanarama National League North status and face a number of their fellow strugglers during February, starting with a home clash against Curzon Ashton on Saturday.

And Cox, who was furious after the midweek loss, said: “I understand the psychology of the game. The boys have been away to places like Boston, Brackley and York and have performed well.

“But it just felt like that the other night they felt they could just turn up and have the right to win a football match.

“Those were bad habits that I walked into so we have to get ourselves back on the straight and narrow quickly.

“But it’s two defeats on the bounce and that shouldn’t happen.

“People might say we’ve played York away and then an Altrincham team who are going well but I don’t care about all that.

“When we play our game and we are energetic and dynamic, I’d put us against anyone.

“But if you get back into the bad habits, it’s a slippery slope and you find yourselves at the wrong end of the table.

“I believe in being honest with players. I have given them all the praise in the world.

“They have created a good feeling about themselves, they have worked hard and picked up good results but it can be taken away overnight.

“We have to go away and regroup because we have some big games coming up.”

The Poppies will have midfielder Connor Kennedy back for this weekend’s game after he completed a two-match ban.