Harriers players proving boss wrong
Kidderminster Harriers manager Steve Burr insists his side are punching above their weight in the Blue Square Premier - but his players beg to differ.
Kidderminster Harriers manager Steve Burr insists his side are punching above their weight in the Blue Square Premier - but his players beg to differ.
Harriers go into tomorrow's trip to Histon three points off the play-off places, having nudged Rushden & Diamonds into sixth by beating them 1-0 at Aggborough on Tuesday night.
It was their fifth game unbeaten, three of those wins, which has seen Burr's men rise to ninth in the table.
Going to struggling opposition in 18th-placed Histon represents an opportunity to keep that run going, with equally-favorable games against Eastbourne and Barrow to follow.
But Harriers will again be depleted in defence with Ollie Thorne sitting out the last game of a three-match ban, while fellow centre-back Mark Albrighton will have a fitness test today on the ankle injury that kept him out of Tuesday's win.
However, left-back Aaron Griffiths is back from suspension, although midfielder Jack Byrne is banned for the next two games.
The recent stretching of the squad has left Burr adamant that he must strengthen the squad in the January transfer window, to stand any chance of sustaining a play-off challenge.
But the Harriers boss is happy that his current squad are conspiring to prove him wrong.
He said: "If I keep saying we are punching above our weight, hopefully it will keep the backs up of our players to show that is not the case and they can compete on a week in, week out basis.
"I still think we need two, maybe three players to stay near that play-off situation but, at the moment, these lads keep proving that they want it and are up for it.
"There's a good atmosphere in the camp, confidence is sky high but we need to keep pushing on."
Harriers go to Bridge Road to face a Histon side who have brought themselves back from the brink after an unbeaten October under manager David Livermore, but are still way off the pace in the league.
Burr has done his homework on the hosts and, with Harriers leading the likes of Darlington and Grimsby in the table, believes his side are the favourites.
He said: "Histon are a side that are quite direct, there's a lot of young lads in there and they have had a few problems, so we will have a look at them and see where we can exploit their weaknesses.
"We are happy with where we are, we are moving in the right direction, there's enough big clubs with big budgets below us in the table to know we are not doing too badly at the minute."
