Poppies are in the thick of the mass scramble to survive the dreaded drop

Kettering Town, who have nine games left to play, sit three points above the relegation zone with AFC Telford United, Bradford (Park Avenue), Blyth Spartans and Farsley Celtic currently occupying the bottom four places.

Leamington and Boston United moved above the Poppies on goal difference with respective 1-1 draws at Farsley and Southport on Tuesday night.

It’s not yet clear what points total will be needed to secure survival but the likes of Banbury United and Southport could still be pulled into the scrap.

That would certainly be the case if Kettering could win at Southport this weekend, although it is the Poppies’ away form that has been their achilles heel all season.

Kettering have won just twice in 19 matches away from Latimer Park in the current campaign and have lost their last three on the road at Blyth, Hereford and Gloucester City.

And while boss Lee Glover would like to pull as many teams into the dogfight as possible, he knows the sole focus for him and his team must be on their own results.

“There is a group of teams just above us who, for various reasons whether that is being crippled by injuries or with people leaving, have had a loss of form,” the Kettering manager said.

“There’s a few teams within two or three points of where we are so they will be looking over their shoulder.

“And if you’re not used to being in and around it and you get pulled in, it’s a bit of a different mindset.

“We are hoping we can pull clubs nearer to us but the main thing we have to do is just take care of our business.”

Glover, meanwhile, is hoping to add at least one new face to his squad before the registration deadline arrives next Thursday.

The Poppies suffered a blow ahead of last weekend with Sheffield United loanee Frankie Maguire set to miss the remainder of the season due to a cartilage injury.

Maguire watched on from the sidelines at Latimer Park last weekend and Glover was full of praise for the midfielder’s contribution over recent weeks with his performances making him a firm favourite of the Poppies faithful.

“We will be looking to get one in, that’s what we want to do,” Glover added.

“We want to do a bit of business.

“But I don’t want to bring too many in and then having people sitting in the stands.

“The people coming in have got to be right and they have to be able to have an effect on the group and the team.

“Losing Frankie is a massive blow.

“For a young lad to come in and have the influence on things like he did shows you how good of a player he is.

“He has genuine quality and it’s no surprise that I had three or four phone calls from Football League clubs about what Frankie is doing next season and asking for a reference on him.

“He showed he is probably too good for our level in the games he was here.

“The fans enjoyed watching him and he became a favourite for them really quickly.”