Preview ahead of Saturday’s trip to Peterborough Sports….
By Matty Paddock - 27/01/2023
Posted 3 years ago
HARRIERS will look to secure back-to-back away wins with a challenging trip to Peterborough Sports on Saturday.
The Reds closed the gap on the play-off places in midweek with a win at Curzon, but have more travelling to do this weekend.
Next up is the trip to the Bee Arena to face the Turbines, who have made a mockery of pre-season predictions that they’d be in for a season of struggle in National League North on the back of promotion last season.
They started this campaign in super form, numerous victories interspersed with only occasional defeats as they got crucial early points on the board going into the Autumn.
While a trickier patch followed over October and November, a run of five defeats in six promptly got their campaign back on the rails again.
Heading into the weekend they’ve won just one of the last six but still sit very handily in 12th, just a point behind Harriers.
Tough as it will be on Saturday against a side beaten just twice on their own turf in 2022-23, Harriers Assistant Manager Jimmy O’Connor says the Reds must stick to their guns on Saturday when it comes to staying focused.
Of recent weeks, he commented: “It’s frustrating because we want success and we’ve had a little taste of it, a taste of what the club can be and what it has been in the past.
“We’re all absolutely desperate to get there, but football sometimes kicks you in the teeth and keeps kicking you when you’re down.
“You don’t feel sorry for yourself. We’ve learned a hell of a lot over the last three or four months, a hell of a lot.
“You don’t always get your rewards straight away in this game, but it is [about] focusing on us first and foremost; make sure we’re right going into the next game and prepared to put on a performance that’s worthy of getting a result.
“You don’t always get the results but it is important that we focus on ourselves and that’s what we’re doing at the minute.”
Of tomorrow’s hosts, Jimmy added: “They gave us a really good game earlier in the season, another tight one, and we know it’s a really difficult place to go to.
“It’s another test and it’ll be a really tough game.
“We’ll be doing our homework on them and making sure we’re prepared… but we have to keep turning up like we did on Tuesday night and build on that.”
Harriers will be without Caleb Richards (ankle) and Joe Foulkes (knee) on Saturday as the pair both await scan results after recent injuries.
Zak Brown isn’t thought to be too far away from a return, while Joe Leesley remains a longer-term absentee.
Christian Dibble will be available to Harriers after signing on Friday, while Jack Tolley has extended his loan spell with Bromsgrove Sporting for a further month.
Kick-off at Peterborough Sports on Saturday is at 3:00pm.
This article is about: Match
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