Poppies now have to handle being 'the hunted' ahead of Easter double header
Liam McDonald knows his Kettering Town team have now become ‘the hunted’ ahead of their huge clash with fellow play-off hopefuls Real Bedford at Latimer Park on Good Friday (ko 3pm).
It has been a long haul for the Poppies, but after a superb run of results they finally squeezed into the top five on Saturday thanks to their 5-2 win at struggling Barwell, coupled with both Quorn and Halesowen Town dropping points.
The win at Barwell was their ninth in the past 12 matches, a run that has seen them storm up from bottom half of the table to the play-off places in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central.
But now, with six matches of the season remaining, the job for the Poppies is to stay there, and McDonald admits his players have to grasp that challenge.
“We have to go out and enjoy it, and we are here now,” McDonald told Kettering Town’s YouTube channel.
“I always said when I first came in that we would be hunting, but there will come a time when we will be hunted, and we are going to be hunted now.
“We just need to make sure that we keep performing because we have been on an unbelievable run.
“If you look at the amount of points we have got and the goals we have scored, when people questioned us for not having a forward.
“Eddie Panter has gone out and rattled in goals in for fun, our defenders have scored lots of goals, so there are loads of positives.
“It is a close-knit group and we are excited for Friday, that’s for sure.
“The games are coming thick and fast and we just have to make sure that we stay injury free.
“We are looking forward to what Friday will bring, it will be a big crowd and it’s an opportunity to get closer to Real Bedford.”
The Poppies currently trail third-placed Real by eight points, so a win would close that gap to just five, but McDonald knows his side face a tough test against a side widely recognised as the best footballing team in the division.
“We weren’t dismissing Saturday’s game, but we have worked already on a plan for Real Bedford because they are a fantastic football team,” said the Poppies boss.
“I know it is going to be a difficult game for us, and our season is not going to be determined on one result, but we want to put in a good performance.
“It is going to be difficult against Real Bedford, but we will have a big crowd there and we know that at home we have only lost once, and we have a habit of playing well, which is important.”
After Friday’s date with Real Bedford, the Poppies hit the road on Easter Monday when they travel to 11th-placed Stratford Town.