We've got to beat the teams around us, says Lovell

ASHFORD TOWN boss Steve Lovell says his side must go on another winning run if they are to clinch a place in the Ryman League Division One South play-off’s, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Welshman blamed the loss of five key players all at the same time last month for the club’s blip, which has seen them slip down to seventh place - six points adrift of fifth-placed side Metropolitan Police.

Lovell, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight, has challenged his team to come away from Saturday’s showdown against third placed Fleet with all three points.

“With eight games to go, we couldn’t have a bigger game to start off the remaining eight games,” he said.

“Out of the eight, realistically we have to win at least six of them and with everybody playing against each other it may be less than that.”

Lovell admitted tonight that the league title is, at present, beyond his side, especially as their Kent rivals, Cray Wanderers have won all of their last eight league games to remain at the summit.

“I really think six wins will get us there,” said Lovell. When asked where that is, he replied, “I think you have to finish in the top five. You look realistically at Cray, they’ve got 69 points now, we’re 15 points away from them and when you have only got eight games to go, I think our aim now is the play-off’s and we’re all confident we can do it.

“But we need to start with a win on Saturday and a good performance against Fleet.”

It’s a big seven days for the Hampshire side, who are in third place and eight points behind Cray Wanderers, with one game in hand, and play Ian Jenkins’ men at home next weekend.

And Lovell said, “All the top teams are starting to play against each other so they become massive games.

“Fleet had a good result against Kingstonian (last night), they’ll be full of confidence coming to us, but we are very confident with our home form this year, and with the squad back to full strength, I think we can really give them a good test.”

Lovell feels their table-topping Kent rivals have had more luck than he has when it comes to personnel.

He said: “Cray are very strong, very experienced and they play very direct - but it works for them.

“They’ve done brilliantly, they’ve had a good run. I think they’ve been fortunate with injuries and suspensions but you need that to happen for you if you’re going to do well in the league.

“I still say our injuries that we had for that three game period - against Whitstable, Cray Wanderers and Croydon Athletic - cost us at least six points, which would have been really important for us.”

Lovell was without Sean Ray, Paul Jones, Anthony Browne, Mitchell Sherwood and Daniel Brathwaite during that period.

“You take five regulars out of any side, whether they’d be in the Premiership down to Sunday morning football, it does make a difference to your team,” said Lovell.

“I still feel those three games, the three games that we lost, after our 15 game run were crucial when we lost those players through injuries and it had an immense effect on our performances and it’s no coincidence they’re all back now and the last two games we’ve won and drawn.”

With three of their last remaining four home games against fellow promotion candidates, Lovell is confident that his side can pull it out of the bag.

“We’ve got Fleet, Worthing and Kingstonian - we’ve got to look at winning those three, which in turns pulls back three points on those three teams, which really is six points because they’re not getting the three points from that game,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure we approach every game positively, which we have done all season.

“It’s an old cliché, we have to take every game as it comes, every game we win, the next game becomes another cup final. Every manager in the top seven will be feeling the same way.”

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk

Ashford Town v Fleet Town
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 21^st March 2009
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ