Frustrated boss Lavery tells Kettering Town players it's time to ‘earn their crust’

It’s fair to say the Poppies have endured a miserable start to 2025, losing three matches on the spin to slump from top to fifth in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central, with their latest defeat a 2-1 home loss to Bromsgrove Sporting.

Despite the drop in form, the Poppies' title fate is still very much in their own hands thanks to the games in hand they have on all of their rivals, but Lavery knows he, and his players in particular, have to up their game.

Since the FA Cup second round defeat to Doncaster Rovers on December 1, things have gone awry, with Kettering, whose match at Alvechurch on Tuesday was postponed, securing just eight points out of 24, losing four of those eight fixtures.

It has left the long-time leaders sitting in fifth, five points adrift of new leaders AFC Telford United, who were emphatic 6-2 winners over title rivals Bedford Town on Tuesday night, although the Poppies do have three games in hand on Kevin Wilson's side.

Lavery is refusing to blame any sort of hangover from the FA Cup run for his team's poor run, and instead is urging his players to focus on what is still to come this season, and the possibility of what would be a memorable title success.

"The games against Doncaster and Northampton have gone, and I have said to the players 'the fans will remember you for the second half of the season', the FA Cup has gone," said Lavery. "The players have to show their worth now.

"Anybody can play when it's against Doncaster and Northampton, it's easy when the games are on TV. It is now where you earn your crust out there."

Lavery was pleased to see more than 1,000 home fans turn up at the weekend, but he was quick to say sorry for his team's performance, and pledged to put things right.

"I would like to apologise to the fans, because that didn't look like my team out there, but I would ask them to stick with me.

"I will get it right, I will never throw the towel in, and if I have to bring in different clientele then I will do that to get us over the line."

Looking back on Saturday's loss, Lavery said: "I have been in there with the players for 45 minutes, and I could have been in there for two hours, and I won't lie, I am not happy.

"We had two different halves, and I think we threw it away in the first half with poor defending from a back five, when they still carved us open twice.

"We came out in the second half with a changed clientele and a different formation, and got back into the game, but we huffed and puffed and didn't really get anywhere did we?

"Bromsgrove are a very good side, and to a man they won their duels all over the park.

"They were organised and came here with a job in hand, and obviously they did it.

"They time-wasted from 2-0, and I get that, I would do it myself, but I thought they were a very good side and they deserved the win, they were the better team and we were poor.

"It's another loss, which I am not happy about, and something has got to change."

Kettering are facing a quickfire double road trip as they go to AFC Sudbury on Saturday and then Banbury United next Tuesday (Feb 4).