Time for a change as Ford sets bar higher

But the Puritans boss remains baffled by his side’s inability to reproduce their away form at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium.

The Puritans have the second best record on the road in the Evo-Stik Southern League but one of the worst at home. Ford has tried not to make an issue of it but admits his side have to make sure the home supporters see the best of their side 2018, starting with Saturday’s premier division clash with Hitchin Town.

Ford said: “I honestly don’t know the reason why it is, because we’ve produced a similar level of performance at home as away.

“We’re not doing anything different so I’ve just got to accept that we’ve not got the results. But we’ve got to change that in the second half of the season and the players are aware of that.”

Ford signed an extension to his contract following the setback against Dunstable Town and that was a positive move at just the right time for the club.

He added: “There are many people at any football club who do a lot of hard work but the most important person is the manager. If he doesn’t get it right then the gates go down and so does the revenue.

“Me signing a new contract when I did was important, not for me but for the club. But I want us to be challenging every week to be better and get further up the table.”

Tom Bradbury should be back in contention for Saturday but Jack Finch will not be ready to start although he could again be on the bench. But Sam Humphreys and Darren Pond are still ruled out through injury.