Paul Cox wants winning mentality and consistency as Kettering Town prepare for FA Trophy

Poppies away at Gloucester City
Paul Cox. Photo: Peter ShortPaul Cox. Photo: Peter Short
Paul Cox. Photo: Peter Short

Kettering Town will switch their attention to the FA Trophy on Saturday, but manager Paul Cox is demanding more of the same.

The Poppies boss wants to build a winning mentality within his squad and that means backing up Saturday’s 2-1 victory at York City with another success.

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The weekend’s second round tie sees Town head to National League North rivals Gloucester City.

“The club’s got a really good history with the FA Trophy and it’s another football match,” Cox said.

“I want to see consistency.

“I want this club to have an understanding that it’s a football match, whether it’s a training ground game or FA Trophy, league game we want to go and win it.”

The weekend’s victory at York laid the ghost of last Tuesday’s 3-1 reverse at Chorley to rest, a defeat which was a tough one for the Poppies to take.

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But the reaction after that clash at Victory Park, and the resilience shown at the York Community Stadium show Cox his team are on the right track.

“We talked after the Chorley game about one or two players coming off arguing,” he continued.

“I embrace that, I embrace winners.

“There’s still loads to do.

“There’s parts of the game I pull my hair out and get frustrated. Let’s put it into context, we’ve come away to York and we’re competing very, very well 11 versus 11.

“If we continue doing that, the infrastructure and all that will come, and we will be where we are in the time spent with the plan we’ve been given.”

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Gloucester will go into the contest on the back of a woeful run of form.

The Tigers - second bottom in the table - have won just once in their past 10 games in all competitions, a 2-0 home success against fellow strugglers Farsley Celtic on November

13.

Saturday’s Trophy tie kicks off at New Meadows Park at 3pm.