It’s 'do or die' for Steelmen’s play-off hopes as they take on Chasetown

The first part of an Easter weekend doubler-header sees the Steelmen taking on Chasetown at Steel Park before they head to struggling Daventry Town on Monday afternoon.

Despite having moved into the top five after a 1-0 win over Spalding United on March 22, Corby have faltered in their last two games with a 4-1 defeat at Sporting Khalsa and a 2-2 draw with Gresley Rovers last weekend leaving them three points behind Boldmere St Michaels, who currently hold the final play-off position.

The Steelmen have four games left and they are gearing up to take on a Chasetown side who could yet gatecrash the top five.

Chasetown are three points behind Corby and also have a game in hand.

And Setchell has made no bones about how important this Saturday’s clash at Steel Park is.

“It’s a cup final,” he said.

“We will be a different animal, I promise you that.

“And if you’re going to come to any more Corby games this season, come on Saturday because that’s the one. If we win, we’re still in it, if we lose, we’re dead. It’s that brutal.

“Chasetown have a game in hand and if they beat us next week they still have a game in hand and a better goal difference.

“It’s huge for us, it’s a must win. It’s the big one. We can stay on the coattails or we could be out of the running.”

The Steelmen’s draw with Gresley last weekend attracted a 600-plus crowd to Steel Park for a second game in a row.

But Corby twice fell behind with Callum Milne scoring a first-half equaliser before Tristan Thompson-Matthews rescued a point with a stoppage-time effort.

This Saturday’s crucial clash with Chasetown is likely to attract another big attendance and Setchell knows he and his players have a “responsibility” to ensure they get their fans behind them.

“The fans deserved more than what we gave them,” the Corby boss said reflecting on the stalemate with Gresley.

“I moan when they don’t come and we play well so I have to give a bit back when we turn in something like that and we have 600 there.

“We have to use Steel Park as an advantage for us but to do that, we have to start on the front foot.

“Against Halesowen (in a 4-2 win) and Spalding, we were on the front foot and the crowd were behind us and there’s no better place to play.

“But there’s a reverse to that, if you start slowly and go a goal down, every mis-placed pass gets magnified in front of 600 fans.

“Football is easy when you’re winning but not so easy when you’re losing, especially in front of a passionate crowd.

“That’s a responsibility we all have to take.”