In-form Holbeach United are eyeing up their sixth successive victory this weekend.
The Tigers visit ChromaSport UCL Premier Division rivals Harborough Town on Saturday (3pm) full of confidence – but boss Seb Hayes wants to see a big improvement from his side.
Although delighted with his team’s run, last Saturday’s 2-1 FA Vase success over lower-graded Huntingdon Town didn’t really inspire much confidence.
The boss admits that “60 per cent” of that was down to him, but is still calling for an improvement at Bowden’s Park.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” admitted Hayes. “They have consistently improved over the past few seasons.
“It’s always a tricky match, but we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and what we can do to win.
“A draw there is no good to us really, we need to go there and win.
“On reflection, I think I got my team selection wrong against Huntingdon, so I’ve got to accept 60 per cent of the blame for that performance.
“We need to do better than that, but the five-game winning run has been brilliant.
“You have to accept that you can’t play well in every match and, at the end of the day, winning is all that matters. That being said, if we play the same at Harborough, we’ll not win. We didn’t do enough with the ball – so I’ll be expecting better.”
Holbeach are hopeful that Mitch Griffiths, Nick Jackson and Joe Braithwaite will all be fit enough to feature this weekend, but are braced for the possibility that all three could be out.
Matt Warfield and Joe Smith are also suspended, meaning that Hayes will again give opportunities to his young talents – including last weekend’s match-winner Jordan Keeble.
Harborough come into the game in in mid-table and are on a run of three defeats in their last four matches. That includes a 3-2 defeat at lower graded Bourne Town in the FA Vase and a staggering 6-5 loss to title hopefuls Eynesbury Rovers.
They also pushed table-toppers Newport Pagnell Town all the way before losing 1-0 to them in their last home game.
Meanwhile, Holbeach have been handed a home draw against South Normanton Athletic in the first round on the Buildbase FA Vase.
The Tigers will welcome the Midland Football League side, who beat Boston Town in the last round, to Carter’s Park on October 21 (3pm).
