Harriers closing out at Mansfield
Friday 23rd April 2010, 7:45AM BST.
Kidderminster Harriers manager Steve Burr is expecting a clash of two teams with one eye on next season in the last game of the campaign at Mansfield.
A mixed 2009/10 draws to a close for Harriers tomorrow having fizzled out in the last two months of the season, with elimination from the FA Trophy in the semi-finals after falling away from the play-off picture.
At best, the Aggborough club will finish tenth tomorrow and even that could be out of their hands, with Cambridge level on points on the edge of the top 10 boasting a superior goal difference by five.
It’s a similar story for their hosts, who in ninth cannot be caught by the teams behind them but need a miracle to catch AFC Wimbledon in eighth, with the Dons’ goal difference better by six.
There was an even bigger expectancy for Mansfield to be challenging for promotion this term after spending 77 years in the Football League until 2008, while Harriers missed the play-offs on the last day of 2008/09.
But Burr is looking for one last performance from his players, to leave the visiting fans with the right taste in their mouths after a disappointing end to the season.
He said: “You would have thought Mansfield would like to have been a big higher at this stage of the season, being an ex-Football League club.
“With the resources they have got, the fan base they get and the wages they can pay out, maybe that should have been the case.
“I guess they are looking to close out the campaign and then look ahead to the next year, but that is of no concern to us.
“We need to make sure that we finish on the right note.”
UK Sport
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