Poppies seeking early inroads at home

Kettering Town will look to start the process of righting one of the big wrongs of last season when they take on Redditch United at Latimer Park tonight (Tuesday).
Marcus Law addresses his Poppies players after they beat Slough Town on the opening day of the Evo-Stik South League Premier seasonMarcus Law addresses his Poppies players after they beat Slough Town on the opening day of the Evo-Stik South League Premier season
Marcus Law addresses his Poppies players after they beat Slough Town on the opening day of the Evo-Stik South League Premier season

The Poppies opened their Evo-Stik South League Premier campaign with a 2-1 success at Slough Town on Saturday thanks to goals from Brett Solkhon and Ben Milnes.Now they will be hoping to follow it up, although they look to be in for a tough examination after Redditch started with a 5-0 victory over Dunstable Town with former Kettering frontman Spencer Weir-Daley being among their scorers.The Poppies’ home form was a huge issue for them last season and it took until October for them to record a league win on their own patch.Boss Marcus Law is hoping they can rid themselves of that problem at the first attempt.And he firmly believes those within the squad will be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure it happens.“We know that our home form was a massive problem last season and it’s important we look to get things right straight away,” the Poppies manager said.“I think the way we approached pre-season and the way we approached the game at the weekend was good.“We had some different personnel on show and I have to say that from the staff through to the players, there is a real togetherness and a will to win, which we didn’t have all the time last season.“But there is also that willingness to win ugly if needed. It wasn’t always pure football on Saturday but the players grafted for the result and that’s what we will need to do again tonight and in the games to come.”Midfielder Nathan Hicks is set to come back into contention for tonight’s game after going through a training session on Saturday, which is what defender Dominic Langdon will do this evening after being away on holiday.Last season’s top scorer Aaron O’Connor, meanwhile, sits out the second of a three-match ban.And Law added: “Dom has been away since the Spalding game so he will come in for a full training session tonight.“It was the same for Nathan, he came down to Slough and did his work and now he will be looking to squeeze someone off the bench this evening. Dom will do the same and will be looking to be in contention for the weekend.“But if you put those two alongside Aaron, that’s three big players to come back into the equation.”

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