Poppies drive to Tivvy

Marcus Law is hoping tonight’s (Tuesday) long trip to Tiverton Town will signal the start of “a more reserved approach” to long away trips for Kettering Town.

The Poppies boss was left concerned following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Basingstoke Town, which saw his team knocked off the top of the Evo-Stik South League Premier. That was Kettering’s third defeat on the road this season with all three of them being in matches that required long journeys.

It’s a trend that Law wants to be put right sooner rather than later and a long trek to Devon in midweek, which will start at lunchtime for the Poppies squad, seems to be the perfect opportunity. Kettering will return to the top of the table if they avoid defeat.

The Poppies boss said: “We need to start implementing a more reserved approach away from home to what we have done up until now. “In the matches we have travelled by coach, we have left ourselves with too much to do. “In general, our goals against column has been very good but the games at Weymouth, Dorchester and Basingstoke have knocked it up and if you throw in Frome, Farnborough and the FA competitions, it is a concern for us.

“When I talk about the mentality, it is about getting the players to understand that when we go to Basingstoke or anywhere else, we don’t lose. That has to be the minimum. “If we get a point away from home, it’s job done because the wins will always take care of themselves. “As proven on Saturday, even when we have a terrible day and don’t have a shot on target for 75 minutes, we can still pull away with two goals. “We know we have the ability to score goals and make things happen but we have to have the right mentality for these away games.”

Source Northamptonshire Telegraph / Jon Dunham