BANBURY United boss Mike Ford says his players need to continue the good work when they travel to struggling St Ives Town in Evo-Stik South League Premier.

The Puritans played title hopefuls Kettering Town in midweek, producing a performance to earn a 1-1 draw which Ford felt was the least they merited.

St Ives are in the relegation zone with just one home win all season, while Banbury boast one of the best away records in the league.

But Ford insists his players need to continue where they left off against Kettering against a side who are battling for every point.

“I was really pleased in midweek,” Ford said.

“We went a goal down against a really good Kettering side, but I felt that we dominated much of the game and showed plenty of resilience.

“I felt we worked really hard and put in a polished performance and deserved at least a point.”

Ford has a full-strength squad to choose from – a nice problem to have compared to recent weeks.

He said: “I have been able to shuffle the pack a bit and make a few changes here and there, which is helpful.

“But we really need to build on all the things we did right on Tuesday.

“St Ives are battling hard, and no games against bottom sides are ever easy.

“We need to combat whatever they throw at us and hopefully we can put in another good display.”

John Brough wants his North Leigh side to shake off a bad week when they visit Cinderford Town in the East Division tomorrow.

The Millers crashed 5-0 at Larkhall Athletic last weekend, and then fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Winchester in midweek.

And boss Brough wants them to show more belief.

“We went into the Larkhall game on the back of four wins,” he said.

“But only two or three players came out of that game with any credit.

“On the back of that, we had a chance to put it behind us against Winchester.

“I felt we were the better side in the first half, but it was the same old story and in the second half we just didn’t compete, so it was very disappointing.

“I think it’s a little bit in the head.”

Sam Mattock (work) is unavailable for the trip to the Forest of Dean.

Andy Ballard has warned Didcot Town to be wary of a wounded animal when they host Slimbridge.

The Gloucestershire side were hammered 8-1 at home by Wimborne last weekend, but Ballard is expecting a reaction.

The Railwaymen boss said: “I’m expecting them to come to us wanting to put things right after last week.

“With that in mind, it’ll be a tough game, but if we can play our way and be a bit more focused defensively, I’m hoping we can get the points.”

After being 2-0 down at Paulton last weekend, Didcot again showed their resilience to bounce back for a 2-2 draw.

But despite that, Ballard was not happy with the result.

“It was two points dropped at Paulton, in my view,” he said.

“After being 2-0 down, we created enough chances to take all three points, but we are making life really difficult for ourselves lately by conceding early goals.

“I’m happy with our style of play, but we need to do better as a team defensively.”

Sam Barder, Callum McNish and Stuart Cattell remain side-lined through injury.

Kidlington will fancy their chances of extending their unbeaten league run to a dozen games when they host basement boys Bishops Cleeve.

The 11th fixture in the sequence came on Wednesday, when Darius Browne’s goal earned a 1-1 draw at home to Cirencester Town.

In the East, Thame United make the trip to Egham Town.

Manager Mark West has bemoaned his side’s inconsistency, but still believes they are doing OK for their first season back in the Southern League.

Having been knocked out of the FA Trophy last weekend, Thame drew 3-3 against Northwood in midweek and West just wants to start focusing on picking up more league points.

He said: “Egham are in a similar position to ourselves and they have had some funny results. We are still scoring goals, so going forwards I don’t have too many concerns.

“The players we have are doing their best for us and they are all putting in a good stint.

“But we must remember, we are still finding our feet at this higher level, so we still make a few mistakes.

“We just need to learn from them and we will be OK.”

West names an unchanged squad from midweek.

Banbury Utd (v St Ives, away): from Harding, Hawtin, Peake-Pijnen, Nash, Bradbury, Carnell, Pond, Louis, McDonagh, Self, Ngathe, Johnson, Howards, Winters, Wise, Sambrook, Finch.

Didcot Tn (v Slimbridge, home): from Bedwell, Elkins, Young, Learoyd, Jeacock, McNeill, Hayden, Alexis, Humphries, Barcelos, Joyce, Pin, Agyakwa, Murphy, Reid, Thomas, Ballard, Woodley.

North Leigh (v Cinderford Tn, away): from Agboola, Lymn, Keightley, James, Wellon, Hopkins, Wood, Mattock, Mendes, Grabe, Bryan, Seacole, Noel-Williams, Marshall, Lawrence, McGlynn, Sheehan.

Thame Utd (v Egham Tn, away): from Hill, Murray, Lynn, Smyth, Hercules, Sturgess, Connell, Goss, Morris, Johnston, Gledhill, Evans, Harrison, Ricketts, Gray, West.