Kettering Town ready to give it their 'best shot' in play-off bid

The Poppies remain one of the big outside shots to sneak into the top seven with their next two games set to decide whether the end of their campaign catches fire or peters out into a more than respectable mid-table finish.

Kettering claimed a 2-1 victory over fifth-placed Chorley last weekend to end a run of five games without a win and head to seventh-placed Southport on Saturday trailing the Sandgrounders by six points.

A clash with sixth-placed York City follows on at Latimer Park next Tuesday night and, with 10 games to go, Culverhouse hasn’t ruled out a shock end-of-season charge from his players.

“We have just got to keep going,” the Poppies boss said.

“We have to keep trying to grind results out and get over the line with them and you never know where it might take you.

“I’ve said it before, while we still have a mathematical chance, we will give it the best shot we can. With 10 games to go, it’s anyone’s game. There is a lot of belief in our dressing-room.

“The win last weekend would have done them the world of good because we have taken a few knocks recently. We are a young squad but that win will help them.”

The Poppies have been boosted by the returns of Connor Johnson and Gary Stohrer from bans in the past couple of games and they are set to have on-loan defender George Cooper available again after injury on Saturday while captain Connor Kennedy will be back after suspension on Tuesday evening.

“We need our best players on the pitch,” Culverhouse added.

“George has come through his rehab and he was due to have a couple of sessions with (parent club) Mansfield this week and then he will be back with us.

“Having him and Connor back over the next couple of games will just add a bit more life and belief because they are big characters.”