Stone wants Doughboys to keep moving 'in a positive direction' as they eye play-offs

And his players certainly seem to rising to that challenge as they close in on the Pitching-In Northern League Midlands Division play-off places.

Stone put pen to paper on his new deal that keeps him at the club until at least the summer of 2026 last week, and the team has responded with two excellent away wins.

They comfortably beat Rugby Town 3-0 last Saturday and then high-flying Worcester City 3-2 on Tuesday, with Will Jones netting a dramatic stoppage time winner.

The wins have seen the Doughboys rise to seventh, two points off the play-offs, and they are also now just six points adrift of third-placed Sporting Khalsa having played the same number of games.

They are very much in the promotion picture, and they will be looking to enhance their encouraging position this Saturday when they entertain mid-table Coventry Sphinx, knowing a win could take them into the top five heading into the final third of the season.

It is the kind of progress Stone has been demanding of his team, and he is now aiming to maintain the momentum in the coming months.

Asked about the signing of his new deal, Stone told @doughboys_wtfc: "It is something me and the club have been speaking about for a little while.

"We all want to keep moving this club in a positive direction, and that was what was really important to me to be able to sign on for another season - that we are going to keep moving forward.

"I think I said at the awards night at the end of last season, that even though we had won the league we wanted to move forward and make sure we compete at this level (after promotion), not just survive.

"We have obviously shown this season that we can certainly survive, and that we can compete, and I think the club want to do the same thing.

"I wanted to continue to do that, the majority of the management staff are able to stay on as well, and I just think everybody works really well together.

"The relationship with the chairman is really good, we have been working together for four or five years now, so I was over the moon.

"I think it shows we are all moving in the right direction together."

Saturday's opponents Sphinx are currently 14th in the Midlands Division table, and will travel to Northants off the back of a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday.