Lavery contemplates changes as Kettering Town go to title rivals AFC Telford

The Poppies make the trip to Shropshire knowing a win will see them move three points clear at the top of the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central.

But Kettering also know defeat will see Telford leapfrog them to go to the top of the pile, so there is plenty at stake at The New Bucks Head Stadium.

The Poppies made it seven straight league wins on Saturday when they saw off fellow high-flyers Redditch United 3-1 at Latimer Park.

Lavery was delighted with the result, but not so much with the performance, and he may well think about freshening his starting XI up against Kevin Wilkin's side.

"We will go there and there pitch is lovely, it is a carpet and similar to the one at Northampton," said the Poppies boss.

"We will go there and I can use the squad now, I can take people out and bring people in, and that is the joy of having a good squad.

"I am looking forward to the game and hopefully we can get three points."

Nile Ranger is likely to still be leading the line for Kettering, alongside Jonny Edwards, with the pair contributing the goals at the weekend.

Rangers' goal came from the penalty spot as he celebrated signing his new contract at the club last week, a deal that will see him stay with the Poppies until at least the end of the current season.

"We all had a conversation last week," said Lavery.

"We sat down and spoke to Nile about what he wanted and what we can do, and he wants to be part of Kettering because he loves it here.

"He wants to stay and he has showed that by signing the contract."

The trip to Telford is going to be a tricky one for the Poppies.

The Bucks have lost just once at home all season, and that was way back on August 13 when they were thumped 5-1 by Stourbridge.

Since then Wilkin's side have won four and drawn one of their five matches on home soil, and they will go into the game off back-to-back league wins, the second of those on Saturday when they won 3-1 at Stamford.

The Shropshire club also boasts the second highest average attendance in the league, just behind the Poppies, so a big crowd of 1,000-plus can be expected.

Quotes courtesy of Peter Short