Poppies hoping to build as Boston come to town

There was frustration all-round after the Poppies blew a 2-0 lead and conceded five goals in just 25 minutes as they went down 5-3 to Kidderminster Harriers on Bank Holiday Monday - a third defeat in a row.

Kettering have struggled since taking the step up to the Vanarama National League North and sit in a lowly position in the early standings.

But there were welcome signs of life in the north-west on Saturday as Nicky Eaden’s team earned a share of the spoils with new signing Michael McGrath scoring at both ends on an eventful debut.

Eaden is now hoping his team can follow that up this evening and he revealed there were a couple of “good chats” between the management and squad in the wake of that defeat at the hands of Kidderminster.

“We had a couple of good chats ahead of the Southport game,” Eaden said.

“We showed them a few clips from the matches to point out where we felt the problems were.

“It gave us a chance to go through a few things and we were particularly looking at the issue of us sinking backwards when we are in front in matches.

“People will be quick to point to fitness, it’s the easiest thing to do when you see a team conceding late goals.

“But the truth is, it is a mentality thing. When you are in front, there is a tendency to drop deeper in order to protect it but that’s something that rarely works because all you are doing is bringing pressure onto yourselves.

“So we had a look at it, we were honest with them but overall, we just asked for a bit more from all of them.

“Overall, aside from the Darlington game where we weren’t really in it, we haven’t been far away and that’s what has made it more frustrating than anything else.

“We changed the system for Southport but, again, it’s not systems that win matches, it’s players.

“The encouraging thing coming out of Saturday was that we got that bit more from them and now we have to do it again and again, starting with Boston.”

The Poppies will be without Connor Kennedy for tonight’s clash as he serves a one-match ban having accumulated five bookings this season.