Marcus Ebdon reckons that Spalding United need at least six points from three away games next week to stand any chance of reaching the Evo-Stik NPL Division One South play-offs.
The Tulips visit 17th-placed Kidsgrove on Saturday (3pm), before a rare Wednesday night trip to fellow strugglers Carlton Town (7.45pm).
That’s followed by an away date at mid-table Belper Town the following Saturday (3pm), with ninth-placed Spalding needing to end their miserable away form if they are to keep their season alive.
Only top two Stafford Rangers and Coalville Town have a better home return than the Tulips this season (32 points), but when it comes to games on the road it’s a different story.
Spalding have collected 16 points from as many matches away from the Sir Halley, winning just three times in the process. Their last win on their travels was 3-0 at Leek back on November 14 – and Ebdon accepts that his side won’t reach the play-offs if that form continues.
He said: “It really is make or break time for us. I think that much is obvious now. We need to be taking six points minimum from those games.
“If you look at the first two games, they’re matches people may expect us to win.
“But we’ve been away to sides below them and not done the business, so we can’t just expect things to change.
“Our away form has been a real problem for the past two years if I’m honest.
“At home we’re superb. But we can’t hide from the fact that we’ve not travelled well.
“Perhaps we have to travel further than other sides at this level, but we can’t hide behind excuses.
“At this stage of the season, playing teams at the wrong end of the table is as tough as playing those at the top. Kidsgrove and Carlton are both scrapping for points and they’ll be bang up for it.
“But we need to go there and play the way I know we can. Fingers crossed we can break our poor run of away form and keep the play-offs within reach.”
Ebdon, who saw his side draw 1-1 with play-off rivals Rugby Town last weekend (see page 38), hopes to have striker Stuart Eason back in the squad at Kidsgrove.
Eason injured his ankle on his debut in the 4-0 win over Goole last month, but should be fit to bolster the Tulips’ attacking options.
The Tulips chief admits that his side haven’t really recovered from losing prolific striker Jake Newman to Stamford in December, but hopes Eason and fellow new recruit Joe Curtis will give
them something extra in the final nine games of the season.
“We’ve missed having a natural goalscorer,” bemoaned the Tulips chief. “Jake was a real finisher, but that’s why Stamford paid a lot of money to get him from us.
“Hopefully Stu will give us a bit of extra bite up top and Joe will be able to feed the strikers. Joe can really see a pass and I’m expecting him to be a big player for us.”
Saturday’s opponents Kidsgrove have lost four games on the spin, while Wednesday’s rivals Carlton have lost their last two.
- Spalding United’s Reserves can book themselves a place in the PFA Challenge Cup final on Saturday.
They are hosting Wittering at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field on Saturday (2pm) – with anybody not travelling to watch the first team urged to get behind Kev Nottingham’s side.
The other semi-final sees Pinchbeck United Reserves host Spalding Town at Knight Street (2pm), so there could be an all-South Holland final.
