​Banbury aim to stop rot at Blyth

The Puritans sat 19th in the league standings before Tuesday night’s small set of fixtures that didn’t feature Mark Jones’ men, who instead were in Oxfordshire Senior Cup action against North Leigh in a game played after this week’s Guardian went to press.

So Saturday’s game will be crucial as they aim to pick up their first win since the victory at King’s Lynn on December 12, with four straight defeats now behind them.

They were denied the chance to stop the rot at Peterborough Sports last weekend, with the Puritans’ home waterlogged following the heavy recent rain.

No new date had yet been set for that fixture as the Guardian went to press.

Speaking to Puritans Radio before the weekend’s postponement, boss Jones was well aware of the challenge ahead.

He said: “We’re just over half way through the season now and three points above the fourth relegation place.

"Our targets haven’t really changed, we have to make sure we are securing our position in the National League North for next season.

"Of course we want to try and win every game, but there also needs to be a bigger picture to that and to show some realism.

"There needs to be a balance. That’s not being unambitious, we just need to look at the next games coming up and accumulate some points.

"There’s starting to become a little bit of a gap now in the table – up until a couple of weeks ago it was very, very tight, but the teams towards the top are starting to move away a little bit.

"We’ve just got to try and pick up points against the sides in and around us. At the moment my focus is on improving the squad, and maybe looking at the current squad to free up some positions in order to bring in some experience.”​