Ford sticks to his guns in pursuit of play-offs

The Puritans entertain Cirencester Town in Saturday’s Evo-Stik Southern League clash before taking on Chesham United three days later.

United remain in sixth place but the gap between them and the final play-off spot is still eight points. Supporters will expect United to go into Tuesday’s game on the back of three more premier division points but boss Mike Ford will not be taking anything for granted.

He said: “Cirencester will be trying very hard to get anything they can. We will have to be right at it on Saturday but if we have the same attitude as we did at Frome Town then we should be fine.

“We’ve just got to keep winning our games and hope someone slips up.”

Ford was full of praise for his side after they sealed a 2-1 victory at Frome but was left frustrated by a lack of protection for his players.

George Nash, who was injured at Frome, should be fit for Saturday but Ford said: I don’t think I’ve ever talked about a referee’s performance other than after Saturday’s game.

“We’re top of the fair play league and haven’t had a booking for a month but the referee gave us three yellow cards. That was an indication of how he let the game go.

“Some of the fouls Frome committed in the first half went unpunished or he simply gave us a free-kick.

“I spoke to the players about discipline at halftime. The players had a lot to deal with but they kept it in the second half even though the decisions went against us.”