Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
That’s Jon Brady’s message to his Brackley Town players ahead of tomorrow’s tricky trip to Workington (Sat, ko 3pm).
The Saints currently sit second in the Blue Square Bet North and will be favourites against a side who lost their previous home league game 6-1!
But with a long trip lying in wait, Brady knows it is crucial his squad of part-time players get themselves mentally and physically prepared.
And the boss will use memories of his playing days to inspire his troops.
“Workington have got a good home record, apart from last weekend,” said Brady.
“It’s a really long trip for most teams.
“We’ve really got to prepare right and the preparation has got to be better than ever. The responsibility is on the players to prepare the best they can.
“When I was playing for Kettering in the Conference North we left at 7am for a game at Workington and didn’t get there until 1.30pm.
“We went 1-0 up but were flagging for the final 20 minutes and ended up drawing 1-1. And that was a team that won the league by 18 points that season!”
Workington will be the first side the Saints will have faced twice in the league this season, having beaten them 3-1 at St James’ Park back in mid-September.
Consequently, the Brady bunch will know what to expect from their hosts this weekend.
“When we played them earlier in the season they were very competitive,” said the Saints supremo.
“We know how they’ll play and we’ve got to go there and play as well as we did in September.”
The game will represent a good chance for Brackley to bounce back from last weekend’s FA Trophy disappointment.
They performed well at Blue Square Bet North title rivals Guiseley but bowed out as two penalty decisions cost them dear in a 3-1 defeat.
The home side netted a spot-kick in each half to secure their passage through to round two and Brady believes the defeat will serve as a good learning curve for his side.
“When we got tight to Guiseley they had nothing,” he said. “The spells where we got in their faces, we were very good.
“But they were the sort of team that if you step off them they can play and if we can realise our mistakes it will be a good learning curve for us.
“It’s something we can build on and it tells us not to put teams on a pedestal before we play them.”
CORBY TOWN
Corby Town will be under “a different kind of pressure” in their next two Blue Square Bet North matches, writes JON DUNHAM.
That is the view of manager Chris Plummer as his team prepare for tomorrow’s (Saturday) trip to Bishop’s Stortford.
The Steelmen turned in an impressive second-half performance at leaders Chester on Wednesday night but were sunk by a late goal as they were beaten 2-1.
That defeat ended a seven-match unbeaten run for Plummer’s side but they now head into games with Bishop’s Stortford and Hinckley United – two sides below them in the table.
And Plummer said: “They are two big games for us and they bring a different kind of pressure.
“Going into Wednesday’s game, we were looking up the table at the team we were up against but in the next two we are looking down and we are going to see if we can put some more distance between us and them.
“We go from being the underdogs in one game to possibly being the favourites. But the most important thing is that we don’t get complacent.
“We can’t start believing that it will just be easier than going to Chester. Every game is hard in this division and ever since I came here, the key word has been consistency. We need to treat every game the same.
“The lads have put in a very decent performance up at Chester but it was a long day and night and hopefully they will all do everything that is required in terms of recovery.
“And if we can go into these two games and produce the sort of performances we have been recently then we will have a chance of picking up some points.”
The Steelmen are boosted by the return of top scorer Josh Moreman, who completed a two-match ban on Wednesday night.
KETTERING TOWN
The chairman of the Kettering Town (Poppies) Supporters Trust believes that while there are players willing to pull on a shirt, they deserve the fans’ backing, writes JON DUNHAM.
Mark Severn has been working alongside the likes of Ritchie Jeune and Ken Samuel to get the Poppies playing again in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division after a full month without any matches due to the club’s financial problems.
There appears to be little happening in the background with majority shareholder Imraan Ladak maintaining a silence on whether any deal may be done with a mystery consortium he said were interested in investing in the club.
In the meantime, volunteers are keeping the club going with ‘home’ matches being played at Corby Town’s Steel Park with Nene Park still unusable.
The Trust have been taking donations from fans which helped fund the players’ coach travel to Bideford on Tuesday night – a game that was lost 4-0 to leave the Poppies’ a massive 20 points from safety.
From the outside looking in, it looks a hopeless task. But Severn believes that, at the very least, a good feeling on the terraces has been restored.
“We are fully behind the likes of Ritchie, Ken, Gary Graham and Mick Coe who are keeping the club going,” Severn said.
“They are making sure we are playing matches and we have to be grateful for that. Everything that has happened to get the team playing again has been done by them and no-one else.
“And we have to appreciate what the manager Alan Doyle, his assistant Thomas Baillie and all the players are doing because they are doing it for nothing.
“The fans helped fund the bus for Tuesday night and while the results haven’t been great, just from standing with the supporters recently there is genuine support and appreciation for those who are keeping the club alive. They deserve our support.
“I have seen glimpses of good football in the last few matches.
“The players are young and may be easily disheartened but while there are lads willing to wear the red shirt then I think they will get the backing.”
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