Sutton Coldfield Town Women manager Ryan Hamilton insists his side must not ‘lose sight of this season’ and be mentally prepared to take on promotion-chasers Kidderminster Harriers this weekend.
The Royals lead the way in the WMRL Premier Division title with three games left to play, five points clear of Kidderminster with the Harriers having one game in hand in the final run-in.
Ryan Hamilton’s side are currently unbeaten at home this campaign, turning Coles Lane into a fortress, winning six of their seven league outings and conceding just three goals in the process.
The league leaders have faced this weekend’s opponents on two occasions so far this campaign, running out 4-1 winners in the reverse league fixture before the Harriers returned the favour with a 1-0 victory in the Premier Cup.
The Sutton Coldfield Town boss believes his side need to be dominant at both ends of the pitch if they are to secure a result and keep Kidderminster at arm’s length.
Hamilton said: “Against a quality side like Kidderminster we know that those defensive qualities are going to be called upon again and hopefully with the firepower we’ve added up front, we can hopefully put a little bit more of a dominant display on further up the pitch.
“We brought in some fantastic forward players, Jordan Atkin being one, and it has taken her no time at all really to settle, she’s our top goalscorer for the season now and having her available these last few weeks has been key.
“It's going to be really important that against Kidderminster we do take those chances and we show good resolve and ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch.”
Sutton boast both the best defensive and goalscoring record in the division, conceding just 12 while recording 46 goals including emphatic 7-0 and 6-0 victories against Lichfield City and Redditch United respectively on their travels.
Forward Jordan Atkin meanwhile tops the club charts with nine goals from just eight appearances, most recently rescuing a point against Shrewsbury Town last time out as the Royals dropped points for the first time in five games.
Hamilton has stressed the importance of staying focused on the task at hand of securing promotion to the fourth tier before looking ahead to next season.
He added: “First and foremost, is to not lose sight of this season. We’ve got three big games to go and I think as much as we’d love to start planning ahead and thinking about things we’ve got to be realistic and know no one's going to give us this title.
“That’s the main aim, to be able to give the girls the promotion they want and the promotion that they deserve.
“It’d nice for us to get that step four status and then sort of challenge ourselves just to see how high we can finish in that first season and adapt to it, see where we’re at, what we need to do and then in that second season ideally really push on and see if we can look towards step three.”
Sutton Coldfield Town finish their season with three straight home matches, taking on Burton Albion and Worcester City after facing Kidderminster Harriers at Coles Lane on Sunday April 16, kick-off 2pm.
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