Crucial points on the line as Steelmen take on Nuneaton

Former Corby Town midfielde Shane Byrne will be back at Steel Park tomorrow but he will be in the colours of Nuneaton Town

The visitors, who are managed by former Steelmen boss Kevin Wilson, sit a point outside the play-off places in the Vanarama National League North after Boston United claimed a 2-1 victory at Bradford Park Avenue on Wednesday night.

Corby, meanwhile, are battling at the other end of the table and head into the clash a point above the drop-zone after Ben Milnes’ late goal earned them a 1-1 draw at Alfreton Town last weekend.

Midfielder Shane Byrne, who helped the Steelmen to the Southern League Premier Division title last season, is likely to be included in the Nuneaton side.

And Corby boss Tommy Wright is well aware of the significance of the fixture for both clubs.

“There is a big battle going on for the play-off places at the moment,” he said.

“Nuneaton’s form has been a bit indifferent and they sold two key players in January.

“But we are under no illusions. It is going to be a very hard game for us.

“They will have Shane Byrne in their team and I am sure he will be well up for it. I hoping he will have an off day!

“They will certainly come here thinking they have to win. No-one will expect us to win but we need to as we aim to keep this little run we have started going.

“Both teams have very different agendas and both of us need the points so it should be interesting.”

Wright, meanwhile, wants to “get the job done” over the next month as he bids to lead his team to safety.

Corby are set to play eight matches between now and the end of March.

And Wright added: “There are 13 games to go but when you consider eight of those come in the next month or so there really isn’t long to go.

“In a month’s time we will be looking at our final five matches and you don’t want to be going into those needing three or four wins.

“Ideally, we want to get the job done over the next eight games if we can.”

The Steelmen could be without Anton Brown (calf) and Kalern Thomas (ankle) this weekend while Nathan Hicks definitely misses out.

The midfielder would have been ineligible as he is currently on loan from Nuneaton but serves a one-match ban anyway after he was sent off for two bookable offences during his debut in the 2-0 win over Tamworth nearly two weeks ago.