We've still got time to make up ground, says play-off chasing Lovell - EXCLUSIVE

ASHFORD TOWN boss Steve Lovell feels victory over basement boys Molesey on Saturday will be the springboard towards making a late dash towards the play-off’s, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Welshman hailed his players’ following their 1-1 draw at league leaders Tooting & Mitcham United last weekend and wants more off the same when the Moles visit The Homelands.

The Surrey side have picked up only two wins and seven draws from their 24 games in the Ryman League Division One South this season and are ten points adrift of safety.

And Lovell, speaking EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight, was pleased that his side took the game to the league leaders last weekend.

“I said we were going to go there and have a go because I think in our football, our league, it’s no point sitting back and going to places for a draw,” he said.

“You’ve got to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make it yours in the first ten minutes.

“We did that, scored after six minutes, Sean Ray, but then could have had three more with Paul Jones, my Mark and Nick Humphrey all going close.

“They came back after quarter-of-an-hour, scored a goal, which you expect a top team to have pressure but second half we dominated and their keeper Dave King made some great saves from Paul Jones to keep them in the game and stop them losing it.

“If you came in our dressing room at the end of the game you would have thought we had lost the game.

“If just goes to show you what mentality we’ve got at the moment and how confident we are of going out and winning games, so hopefully we can keep that going.”

There is, however, an eight point gap between Ashford and the side immediately above them, 12^th placed Chipstead, but Lovell hasn’t given up hope of playing Ryman Premier League football next season.

You may recall that last season Maidstone United came from nowhere to clinch the league title, with Hastings United, who were bottom early on, securing their place via the play-offs.

Looking ahead to the visit of Molesey, Lovell warned: “I’ve watched Molesey play two or three times this year and they’re not as bad a side as the table suggests.

“We have to approach it in the right way and prepare for a tough game. If we do that and approach it properly and play the way we have done in the past six or seven games, we’ll get a result. If we don’t then we’ll struggle.”

Lovell is expected to name midfielder Anthony Hogg in his squad against the Moles, having missed last weekend’s clash at Imperial Fields through suspension.

But with nineteen games left to play, there is still plenty to play for.

“Everybody’s beating everybody else and we’ve still got 19 games to go and it’s wide open,” said Lovell.

“Both league’s really, up and down. It’s pretty wide open and the next ten games will dictate to a lot of teams where they’re going to be at the end of the season.

“Teams can go on a good run in the next ten games and move from the bottom to the top.

“Everyone’s got a chance of putting on a good run and getting amongst it at the end of the season.”

Ashford Town, are included in that, as Lovell explained.

“I’ve got a group of players now that are all now positive, confident that we’re going forward and that’s the way I want to be.

“I’m aiming for the play-off’s. If we fall short of it, we’ll fall short of it. At the moment there’s 19 games to go and anything can happen.

“We’ve got to believe in that, go into every game with a positive attitude.

“There’s no way we’re going to sit back and see what happens next year. I want to see what happens this year and hopefully in the next six or seven games, start that run and progress then to go where we want to go.”

But the former Sittingbourne manager doesn’t know how many points his side need to bag to grab a play-off berth.

He said: “At the moment you can’t say because if teams keep on winning at the top we could end up with 70 points and still not do it.

“All we’ve got to do is hope we win most of our games and that teams that are around the play-off places or just below, drop points and if that happens then we’ll have a chance.

“It’s all in the hands of the other teams but we’ll do our hardest to win as many games as we can to give ourselves a chance.”

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

Ashford Town v Molesey
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 26^th January 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Homelands, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ