Stafford Rangers boss Neil Kitching: Every effort went into cup final win

Rangers clinched the county crown on Tuesday, beating El Staffico rivals Hednesford Town 3-2 at Stoke’s Bet365 Stadium.

They have been unable to bask in that glory for long, though, as they head to Stourbridge tonight before Kitching’s final game in charge, at Nantwich Town on

Saturday. Boro can still finish in the Evo-Stik Premier’s top 10.

“We’ve got two games to go and we want to make sure we finish strongly,” said Kitching. “It isn’t the end yet. We channelled a lot of energy into winning the cup final, I won’t lie about that.

“We haven’t sacrificed results in the league to do that, but the boys were told it was very important – it’s silverware, it’s winning something. Every effort went into that and, fair play, we got over the line and won the game.

“But it’s still a big week. We’ve got a big game against Stourbridge tonight and a big game at Nantwich on Saturday. We’ve still got the opportunity to finish in and around that top 10, and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that.”

Kitching and assistant Nick Amos are stepping down after four years in charge. Rangers are announcing a new manager on Monday, May 7.

“We’ve had a promotion and two cup final wins in our time here,” said Kitching. “I think we’ve put that building block in place. We’re better than we were last season.

“We’re stronger, can manage games better, and we’ve done well against the top sides.

“We’ve moved the club forward and put some silverware on the table.”

He added: “We don’t want to be out for too long. I think we’re good at it, to be honest, and we’ll be back involved at some point.”