Anyone that cannot consistently do the basics won’t be at the club regardless of reputations, warns Canterbury City boss Ben Smith

CANTERBURY CITY boss Ben Smith has threatened to wield the axe if players’ drop their consistency levels.

The club sit in 12^th place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 27 points from their 19 league games.

Canterbury City beat their landlords Deal Town 4-1 in an away game last Saturday, which pleased Smith.

He said: “I was very pleased with the performance against Deal. 

“It’s often been a game that we have struggled in but we matched them off-the-ball and showed the quality that we have in the side.

“It’s been great to have a settled side recently, being able to put the same side out for a run of games allows for the continuity and consistency that we have lacked all season really.”

Canterbury City host James Collins’ Chatham at The Charles Sports Ground tomorrow.

Chatham have won nine of the 15 games in all competitions that Collins has been in charge for and as a result they have climbed away from relegation trouble into fourteenth-place in the table with 25 points from their 20 league outings.

“Our recent loss to Chatham was probably the worst performance since I joined the club and we have made changes on and off the pitch since then, which seems to have had a good impact,” revealed Smith, after losing 2-0 at Chatham on 2 December.

“Sometimes it’s a case of going back to basics and doing them well, that’s what we are concentrating on at the moment and anyone that cannot consistently do that won’t be at the club regardless of reputations.

“I expect it to be a difficult game tomorrow as James Collins has got them organised well but we’ll be approaching it in a different way to the previous game so have every chance.

“Our first target has got to be getting back into that top 10 and then work from there but to be honest we just want a settled side for a run of games and see where that takes us.

“The Quarter-Final of the Kent Reliance Senior Trophy (against Sporting Club Thamesmead) is obviously in our minds and that will take priority over the coming weeks.”

Visit Canterbury City’s website: www.canterburycityfc.net

Canterbury City  v  Chatham Town
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Saturday 30 December 2017
Kick Off 3:00pm
at The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU