Steelmen are ready to return to top gear after enforced lay-off

The Steelmen are set to return to action on Boxing Day when they entertain Daventry Town in an all-Northamptonshire clash at the earlier kick-off time of 1pm at Steel Park.

The cold snap has ensured Corby haven’t played since they were beaten 4-0 at home by Harborough Town on December 3.

With the season at the halfway stage, the Steelmen find themselves six points adrift of Boldmere St Michaels, who occupy the final play-off place in the Northern Premier League Midlands after they did manage to get their game on last weekend and drew 1-1 with Loughborough Dynamo.

That is still a marked improvement from this time last year when Corby were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and were struggling for points at the wrong end of the table.

And Attenborough said: “I said the other week, I’m not too worried about the table at the moment.

“What we need to make sure we do is our jobs. It’s alright looking at the other results around the grounds but we have to make sure we are winning games and becoming a little bit more consistent than we have been.

“The break has probably done us good. It’s taken the emotion out of the last result a bit and it means we can hit the reset button.

“We will have boys back from injury and hopefully we will be stronger for it.

“It’s also given us the chance to put things in perspective a bit.

“From having one player in the squad in the summer to where we are now, I think we would have been pretty pleased.

“But when you get in and around the play-offs and then lose a couple, it hits you a little bit.

“That little step back could actually help us and we will be ready to put in a performance on Boxing Day.

"Hopefully that help us get the ball rolling on another good set of results.”

Attenborough has also seen his options increase after the signings this week of goalkeeper Tomasz Bukowski and attacker Jordan O’Brien.

Both could be set for starts against a Daventry side that did the double over Corby last season.

They won 3-2 at the Elderstubbs on Boxing Day before claiming a 3-1 success at Steel Park on Easter Monday.

But Attenborough is hoping a positive result against them in the first meeting between the two sides in the current campaign will be the springboard for a strong showing on home soil during the second half of the season.

“Daventry won at Steel Park last season and I am sure they haven’t forgotten that,” he added.

“We say it every week, if you’re not on your game then you will lose in this league and you only have to look at the result we had at St Neots recently to see that.

“We have to make sure we do our jobs and get on the front foot, especially at home.

“I think seven out of our nine remaining fixtures at home are against teams currently in the bottom half so we are hoping to make the place a bit of a fortress in the second half of the season.

“If we can do that and pick up some results away then, come the end of the season, hopefully we will be there or thereabouts.”