Harriers appreciate break
Kidderminster manager Mark Yates today admitted his team's prolonged pre-Christmas break has come at the perfect time to recharge the batteries for their festive fixtures.
Kidderminster manager Mark Yates today admitted his team's prolonged pre-Christmas break has come at the perfect time to recharge the batteries for their festive fixtures.
Harriers have nine days between Thursday's Blue Square Premier victory over Cambridge at Aggborough and their FA Trophy clash with Guiseley next Saturday.
And with the club's Christmas party scheduled for yesterday, Yates reckons the break from action could not have come at a better time.
Yates said: "In a way when you win a game you want the next one to come along as soon as possible.
"But we haven't got another league game until Boxing Day so on the back of a good win it might prove to be a nice break for the players.And at this time of year it can be useful. The club's staff like to have a Christmas party and so do the players, and normally managers in that situation worry about how the players will be for the next weekend's game.
"In this situation the players haven't got a game coming up for 10 days so I don't have to worry about that.
"They can have the weekend off and then come in next week fresh and we can start getting ready for the Trophy match."
And, after last season's trip to Wembley in the Trophy final, Yates is stressing the importance of next week's game.
He said: "We found out last year how big the Trophy can be so this game is big for us. We have some unfinished business in the Trophy."
Yates was full of praise for his side's performance in beating Cambridge live on Setanta Sports on Thursday. "It's a win we needed," he said. "We haven't got a league game now until Boxing Day and we couldn't afford to go another game without a win and I'm delighted for the players and the supporters.
"We worked our socks off and got our rewards - I've heard better managers than me this week talking about how it's all about winning and that's true at this stage of the season.
"We certainly won ugly, but we'll take that."
And he hailed fit-again goalkeeper Scott Bevan for a string of fine saves.
"Scotty did what he gets paid to do," he said.
"We over-relied on him at times but he showed why he's one of the best goalkeepers in the division, he did what we know he can.
"Cambridge are the best side we've played this season, but credit to the boys, we knew if we were going to get where we want to go this season we needed to win."
