Puritans need toretain focus for crucial period

Banbury United are now unbeaten in seven Evo-Stik League South outings going into the busy festive period.

A draw and a victory against the top two in premier division central is just what Ford would have wanted on his Christmas list ahead of three more games to see the year out.

The Puritans entertain Rushall Olympic on Saturday before heading up the road to Stratford Town on Boxing Day and seeing out the year at Halesowen.

Ford knows the next two games will be key to how many points his side can pick up over that period and does not want a repeat of what happened against Dunstable Town 12 months ago.

He said: “These next two games form part of our four-game festive programme and it means 12 points are on offer. I’m not going to say we’re going to get all 12 but I don’t want us to throw away any points through a lack of preparation.

“We lost on Boxing Day last year because the players weren’t physically capable of doing the job, we can’t afford to do that again. We have to make sure we’re ready to do the job, if not it will be obvious to everyone and I will have to deal with it.

“Every player has got to look after themselves, if they don’t they will let everyone down, team-mates, staff, officials and supporters.

“Our supporters will turn up on Saturday and, quite rightly, expect the team to play as well as they have in the last two games. But we all know football doesn’t always work out like that, no matter how hard you try.

“But if we can perform like we did against two top teams then we can – not should – be able to do that against any team in this division. The disappointment will come if we don’t perform.”