Town a 'completely different animal', says Davis

FOOTBALL

BOSS Paul Davis believes Stratford Town are a “completely different animal” in comparison to where they were just two months ago.

Fifth-bottom Town have picked up ten points from their last six games and it’s a run of form which has seen them move 11 points clear of the automatic relegation zone with 11 games left to play.

While the two third-bottom teams with the worst points-per-game ratio across the four Step Three divisions go down, Town have some breathing space in that regard too, being nine points clear of St Ives Town.

However, Davis isn’t resting on his laurels and just like he told the Herald last week, he firmly believes 37 points will be enough to secure Town’s place in the Southern Premier Central for a further season.

The 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Redditch United at the Arden Garages Stadium on Saturday moved the club onto 28 points, nine points shy of Davis’s target going into the final games of the campaign.

Davis’s men had to dig deep to get the win, just like they had to do at Biggleswade on 1st February, and the Town boss believes his side has come a long way over the last two months.

“Two months ago, would we have won the game against Redditch? Probably not,” said Davis.

“What really pleased me on Saturday is there was a point in the game where one of the Redditch lads cut inside and three of our players threw themselves in front of the ball.

“That just shows the commitment we now have instead of just dangling a leg out like we might have done two months ago.

“We are a completely different animal now compared to two months ago. We’ve picked up ten points from our last six games and that’s mid-table form.

“The minimum is to finish fourth-bottom and from where we were two months ago, I’m glad we haven’t slipped into the bottom three.

“From being on a slippery slope, we’ve turned a bit of a corner and are on the up.

“The aim now is to push forward. We need 37 points so we need just nine more to hit that target, whether it be three wins or nine draws.

"We’ve got 11 cup finals left so we will head over to Lowestoft and see what we can do.”

Victory over Redditch was made all the more sweeter after Town’s hard-working volunteers had worked their proverbial socks off to ensure the game got the go-ahead, despite the best efforts of Storm Dennis to get it postponed.

“I said to the players at 2pm on Saturday that whatever happens, we must win, not just for those hard-working volunteers who got the game on for us, but to give us a platform to build from,” added Davis.

The Town boss confirmed two new additions could be in the squad for Saturday’s arduous trip to Lowestoft Town (3pm kick-off) and that a third signing could also be on the cards, but it’s subject to the paperwork going through.

Town have now used 66 players for the season after goalkeeper Rhys Davies and versatile midfielder Bekir Halil made their debuts in the win over Redditch.

Davies has signed on loan until the end of the season from Leicester City while Halil has previously been on the books at Hinckley AFC, Worcester City, Westfields and Romulus.