Solkhon wants the games to come thick and fast for Poppies now

Brett Solkhon makes a save during his stint in goal in Kettering Town's 3-2 defeat at Weymouth last weekend. Picture by Peter Short

The Poppies finally returned to action after a three-week break due to a flurry of postponements when they were beaten 3-2 at high-flying Weymouth last weekend.

Captain Solkhon was forced to play in goal for the majority of the game after Paul Walker suffered a head injury and there was no substitute keeper on the bench.

However, the skipper will be back as an outfield player on Saturday when the Poppies head to Hungerford Town, another team who are chasing a top-five finish.

The recent postponements mean Kettering have 20 games to play in the last three months of the season. They are currently nine points behind Dunstable Town, who sit in the final play-off place, but have three games in hand.

And, as far as Solkhon is concerned, the sooner they can be played, the better.

“The backlog of games could be a problem for us,” he admitted.

“Hopefully the matches will start coming thick and fast for us.

“Our pitch isn’t up to scratch and we now have games in hand on a few teams around us so hopefully we can start playing at home soon.

“While these games are on, we need to be picking up as many points as possible so aren’t playing catch up.

“If you have a lot of games towards the end of the season there is danger of running out of steam.

“So hopefully the weather will pick up. Every game from now on is going to be important because we want to stay in touch with the play-off places.”

Solkhon is well aware of the importance of this weekend’s clash as the Poppies head to a Hungerford sit in seventh place, five points clear of Kettering from a game more.

And, with Marcus Law revealing his is looking to get goalkeeper Craig Hill back in for this weekend to replace the injured Walker, the Poppies captain is hoping he is back where he belongs.

“I hope I am back on the pitch,” he added.

“It’s not that I thought I did a bad job because I made a couple of saves. But, if Paul doesn’t make it, then I am sure the gaffer will be looking to get a goalkeeper in.

“It’s an important game against a team who are also going for the play-offs.

“We need to bounce back. I thought we were unfortunate not to get something at the weekend. So we are looking forward to getting back out there.”