Glover aiming to give Poppies fans the perfect Christmas present

The Poppies head into the first part of a festive double-header with Peterborough Sports sitting in the relegation zone of the Vanarama National League North.

And it’s their form on the road that has been the big problem for Glover and his players so far this season.

Kettering are yet to win on their travels in the league, although they did pick up a 2-2 draw at current leaders Darlington in the last outing away from Latimer Park.

However, that was then followed by a home loss to Gloucester City to leave Glover’s team in trouble at the wrong end of the table as they hit the halfway stage of the campaign.

Going into Christmas, the Poppies are fourth from bottom and two points off safety having played more games than the majority of teams around them.

Sports, on the other hand, have enjoyed an impressive start to life at Step 2 after being promoted last season under boss Jimmy Dean and are well in the hunt for a play-off place at this stage.

They are sitting in eighth place, just two points behind Banbury United in the final play-off spot and 12 points shy of leaders Darlington.

Glover insists the respect is there for their hosts on Boxing Day but he is hoping a cup-tie feel to the game will work in his team’s favour.

“These games always have the feel of a cup tie,” the Poppies boss said.

“I believe we will be taking a few fans over there with us so it will have that edge to it, which is what you want.

"These are the games you want to play in.

“We are going to be very respectful of them because they have invested in their team and they have some very good players.

“But we won’t be in awe of them and we believe we can go there and give a good account of ourselves.

“We want to try to get after the game and be positive. It worked for us at Darlington.

“We haven’t won away yet and to do it on Boxing Day would be a good Christmas present for everyone.”

There will be an extra edge to the occasion with former Kettering captain Connor Kennedy and Connor Johnson, who were such good performers for the Poppies last season, set to line up against their former club after joining Sports last summer.

And Glover added: “The two Connors went there and they were very good for Kettering last season.

“To be honest, Peterborough Sports’ financial resources are greater than ours so they have been able to attract some very good players.

“But I think we can go there, like we did at Darlington, and try to get on the front foot.”

The Poppies haven’t played since that December 6 narrow 1-0 home loss at the hands of Gloucester, but the action will certainly pick up over the next few weeks, weather permitting.

The trip to Sports is quickly followed by the return fixture at Latimer Park on New Year’s Day (ko 3pm), and then a trip to relegation rivals Bradford (Park Avenue) on January 7.