Poppies boss McDonald says there will be no 'knee-jerk' rush to make new signings
Boss Liam McDonald has reiterated he will take his time to get the 'right players' to strengthen his underperforming Kettering Town team.
The Poppies slipped to 11th in midweek as they were beaten 2-0 at title-chasing Spalding United, and ahead of Saturday's trip to struggling Bromsgrove Sporting they are now five points outside the top five and play-off places.
It was a first loss under new boss McDonald, and he made it clear after the game that new signings will be made to bolster a squad that he believes isn't up to scratch in several areas.
But he also says he won't be taking 'a knee-jerk reaction' to what he has seen in his first three weeks at Latimer Park, and that he will take a measured approach to ensuring the Poppies get to where they want to be by the end of the season – in the play-off places.
"I don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction and make a flood of signings," said McDonald following the loss to the Tulips. "I think we have to do it gradually and there are good players at this level.
"This is a fantastic football club so that helps, in terms of the fanbase and playing in front of 1,000-plus at home, so that is always a carrot to dangle to a player at this level.
"But we want to bring in the right players."
The Poppies are a much-changed outfit to the one that was beaten by AFC Telford United in last season's play-off final, and McDonald says there is no point dwelling on the past and what might have been if that squad had been kept together.
"Over the past six months, a lot of talented footballers have left the club for one reason or another," said the Poppies boss. "But the past is the past, this new group is the future and it is going to take time.
"Hitting the heights of last season will be difficult at this moment in time, so we are realistic, but if we can put in a good performance on Saturday and go and win that game, then you think 'okay, we have taken six points out of nine'.
"That would be a positive and something to build on, and the players were disappointed on Tuesday and I like that.
"But I don't want them to get too down, as it mentally moves them away from the goal and the target."
Quotes courtesy of Peter Short