STEVE Burr has urged his weary Kidderminster Harriers squad to summon every ounce of effort to keep alive their play-off dreams tonight.
Harriers’ run of four games without a win has seen them slip to seventh in the Blue Square Bet Premier table but they can reignite their challenge tonight when Fleetwood Town, who occupy the final play-off berth, visit Aggborough.
After Harriers’ first defeat in 16 matches on Tuesday against Darlington, Burr’s men are four points behind Fleetwood with three games left.
Kidderminster boss Burr said: “We’ve made it hard for ourselves after not getting the win against Darlington but a win on Friday night will get us right back in it. It’s a must-win.
“The boys have been excellent all season but we have just got to try to squeeze that little bit extra out of them to keep it going.
“We haven’t got a big squad and in the last couple of weeks, when we’ve had a couple of injuries and a couple of players have had a dip in form, we haven’t been able to make changes.”
Burr will have to rule out Tom Sharpe and Matt Lowe tonight while other players are carrying ‘bumps and bruises’ but the squad know that only a win will do tonight.
■ Tamworth will have the chance to finally end any relegation worries if they claim maximum points tomorrow against fellow strugglers Southport.
Caretaker-manager Dale Belford has already ruled himself out of the permanent role but he proved a key influence in guiding the Lambs to a first win since New Year’s Day last week at York City.
It leaves them four points clear of fourth-from-bottom Southport with three games to play, but a Lambs victory tomorrow would mean they cannot be caught by either Southport or Altrincham.
Belford’s rallying call brought a stunning response after Des Lyttle’s shock departure at York and it will be the same again tomorrow.
Several players have not been able to train during the week after picking up niggles against York, including top scorer Kyle Perry, but the Lambs are optimistic they will have an unchanged squad.
Belford, the Lambs’ Academy boss, said the players deserved all the credit for last Saturday’s win.
“We knew going to York would be a tough game but I just asked the lads to give me everything and they worked hard and showed they are good players.”
