Kinniburgh knows he must find a solution to Corby's 'blip'

It’s been a bad week for the Steelmen as their 3-1 defeat to fellow high-flyers Peterborough Sports last weekend was followed by a miserable 5-2 loss at Barton Rovers on Wednesday night.

Back-to-back defeats have had a damaging effect on Corby’s title hopes in the Evo-Stik League South Division One Central.

But boss Kinniburgh’s immediate focus is putting an end to his side’s “blip” as soon as possible.

They face a tough test at fifth-placed Thame this weekend but the Steelmen manager knows it is up to him to start putting things right after he conceded the midweek display from his team wasn’t acceptable.

“We have hit a bit of a bump in the road,” Kinniburgh said.

“I think it’s fair to say that for most of the season we have been good but sometimes you hit that point where you have a blip and that’s what has happened over the past four days or so.

“It’s frustrating and I am sitting here wondering how it has gone off the rails so quickly.

“But it’s now my job to get back in the office and put my head together with the coaching staff and come up with a solution for tomorrow.

“We have to make sure we get a big reaction because from the club’s, the fans’ and my point of view, what we saw on Wednesday night isn’t acceptable.

“We have got to move on from it quickly and we have to get the right reaction out of them.”

To get back on track, Kinniburgh will focus on getting his players’ mindset back in the right place.

The Steelmen are now caught in a situation where their hopes of automatic promotion are slipping away while a play-off place already seems to be a formality.

And he added: “If you go back to the conversations we were having in September and October, I was often talking about consistency and the importance of having the right mindset.

“I think we have stepped back into that sort of area, we are not quite at it.

“It’s slightly more tricky with a younger squad that isn’t full of seasoned pros.

“One minute we think we are going for the title and then a couple of results almost takes that away but, at the same time, we know we are in a strong position already to take a play-off place.

“It’s about finding that happy medium where you are getting yourselves up for every game, regardless of the circumstances.

“That’s something we have got work on because we have nine games left and there is still plenty to play for in that space of time.”

The Steelmen will be boosted by the return of midfielder Connor Kennedy for this weekend’s clash after he completed a four-match suspension.