Harriers boss warns players
Kidderminster manager Mark Yates has warned his players that their habit of late giveaways could derail their promotion aspirations.
Kidderminster manager Mark Yates has warned his players that their habit of late giveaways could derail their promotion aspirations.
The Harriers boss was left fuming as his side threw away a 1-0 lead at Altrincham on Tuesday, crashing to a 2-1 defeat.
And Yates believes relinquishing leads in the closing stages of matches is becoming a worrying trend that could do serious harm to their hopes of gatecrashing the play-off picture in the Blue Square Premier.
Yates said: "That is why we are where we are in the league table, there's no doubt about it.
"Just when we think we are starting to get to grips with things in this division something comes along and beats us like Tuesday night did.
"We know we have got good players who can really perform well at this level, as they have shown by getting good results against some of the best teams in the league.
"But we can't hold on to a lead at the moment, it's as simple as that.
"Every time we get ourselves into a winning position we seem to shoot ourselves in the foot and that is the most frustrating thing from our point of view.
"There were a few harsh words spoken in the dressing room on Tuesday because I wasn't happy with how we went from being 1-0 up and looking comfortable to suddenly being 2-1 down and being beaten.
"The conditions were dreadful and the match was actually stopped for 15 minutes to let the wind and the rain die down.
"But that is no excuse for us giving that lead away.
"We were 1-0 up and Altrincham hadn't had a chance but then we made a silly defensive error for their first goal and switched off at the back for their second.
"We keep giving away leads at the moment and it's costing us."
Meanwhile, Yates has insisted that leading scorer James Constable will not be allowed to leave Aggborough on the cheap.
Shrewsbury have made an enquiry about the 11-goal striker but so far there has been no bid and Yates is happy to keep his top asset.
"We are not in the business of selling our players unless the deal is right for all parties, including us," he said.
"If we don't get a deal that suits us then we won't sell.
"We don't think we are out of anything yet this season so if it's not right for the club then it won't happen."
Shrewsbury are desperate for a new striker to beef up their forward line and have already had several enquiries rebuffed.
Previous targets have included Liam Hatch of Barnet, Millwall's Ben May, Richard Walker of Bristol Rovers and Scott Vernon of Blackpool.
And they had a bid accepted for Accrington's Paul Mullin but withdrew from the race.
They have also allowed Michael Symes to leave on loan for Macclesfield this week.
