Law may '˜shake it up' as Poppies head to Slough

Marcus Law has hinted he may make changes to his Kettering Town starting line-up for tonight's trip to Slough Town. Picture by Peter Short

Seven days ago, the Poppies had everyone believing in a potential play-off push in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division after they claimed an impressive 3-0 home success over Dorchester Town.

But those hopes quickly evaporated at the weekend when Kettering were beaten 3-1 at struggling Histon.

Law vented his frustration after another inconsistent week for his team, who head to take on a Slough team, who will go above the Poppies with a victory tonight.

Having witness a poor defensive display in Cambridgeshire, the Kettering manager said: “If you look at the performance of the back four, they have to hold their hands up and say they didn’t defend well enough.

“Where the goals have come from, they can’t look at anyone apart from themselves.

“The attacking players have their roles and jobs and I still felt we looked threatening going forward.

“We will reconvene and we may look at changing the personnel to shake it up a bit. Maybe people have got a bit comfortable.

“It’s just very frustrating. A week ago we produced a performance that you would look at and say you wouldn’t change anything. Seven days later, it is the complete opposite.”

Law, meanwhile, believes the weekend loss shows how “influential” both Liam Bateman and James Brighton are for the Poppies.

Bateman is facing four weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury he suffered in the win over Dorchester while Brighton has been struggling with a thigh problem and was an unused substitute at the weekend.

“Liam is going to be out for three to four weeks,” Law added.

“James will have another fitness test prior to the game tonight and then we will make a decision on him.

“But I think Saturday showed how influential those two players are to the way we play.”