Ford knows United must not look too far ahead

But the Puritans manager knows there are a lot of points to be won – and lost – between now and then. Ford just wants his players to take each game on its merits and not focus on the outcome at the end of the Evo-Stik League South season.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to leaders Kettering Town, Ford said: “A top ten finish would be good but we’ve just got to take each game as it comes and see where we end up. We’ve got to make sure we keep our eyes on the ball for every game and not look too far ahead.”

And the Puritans boss was glad to see his side return to winning ways at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium at the weekend. Giorgio Rasulo’s late winner against Needham Market earned United all three premier division central points for the first time in six outings following the 2-1 success.

Ford said: “We’ve now reclaimed the four points we had taken off us but it’s taken a bit longer than I had hoped. It’s good to be back on 40 points and there were a lot of positives to take from the game.”

Being able to change things from the bench – which was strong on Saturday – proved effective and Ford said: “It was good to be able to impact the game from bench when Greg Kaziboni came on, we’ve not been able to do that in recent games and they were positives substitutions.

“Having a short break seemed to give Greg a boost and he was able to keep us up the pitch for longer periods when he came on. He had the bit between his teeth and Needham found it difficult to contain him in the second half.”