Confident Pinchbeck United player/boss Ian Dunn reckons that all of the pressure is on ChromaSport UCL Premier Division title rivals Raunds Town ahead of Saturday’s big showdown.
Leaders Pinchbeck go into the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field clash (3pm) some seven points clear of second-placed Raunds after both sides drew at the weekend.
A victory for the Knights would send them ten points clear at the summit with 11 games to go, essentially giving them one hand on the trophy.
But, although Dunn has seen his side beat the Shopmates twice already this season (albeit the 3-1 cup win declared void), he’s not taking anything for granted.
“It’s a really big game in the context of the season,” said the player/boss. “Win the match and we’re in a very strong position.
“With that in mind, a draw is OK for us. But they’ve got to come here and beat us, they’ll know anything but three points leaves them a lot to do.
“The carrot for us is that a win would send us ten points clear with 11 games left. That would be a huge psychological boost, but I’d stop short of saying that we’d have one hand on the title.
“Yes, we’ve got a nice buffer and we’ll be in a good position whatever the result is on Saturday. They’ll have to come out and play for the win, so we can exploit that if we’re on our game.
“It’ll be tough, though. Raunds are a very good side and they’ve given us a hard time in both of the games we’d played against them.
“We know that we’re only one bad result away from the title race getting a bit closer and we also have to improve on Saturday’s draw at Bourne.
“We’ve got some tricky other games left – Harrowby twice, Rushden and Higham, Lutterworth Town to name a few – so nothing will be decided on Saturday.”
Pinchbeck welcome back key defender Ashley Murrell, who missed the 4-4 draw at Bourne Town last Saturday, but left back Luke Gardner remains sidelined.
Raunds come into the game on an eight-game unbeaten streak, with their last loss being a 3-2 reverse at Lutterworth Town on November 25.
Pinchbeck, meanwhile, haven’t lost in the league since going down 3-2 to Olney Town way back in September.
That’s a run of 16 matches – of which the in-form Knights have won 14.
