Poole Town’s current focus is plugging away in search of more points as manager Tom Killick admitted that this year’s Southern League Premier South will be Poole’s hardest campaign in years.
After two curtailed seasons with no promotions, multiple teams now boast squads filled with quality – making this season’s promotion battle hard to predict.
Killick told All Poole Aren’t We: “It’s definitely the hardest campaign. I’m not so sure that the quality has gotten better in terms of the sides getting better, but rather there’s just a lot more good sides.
“When I look at the good sides in the past, there were some real good sides you come up against, but there was less of them.
“There were probably five or six you would say were quite strong sides. I would say now that there are 12 or 14.
“Points are hard to come by – it’s interesting. Every week I look at the results, and you sort of think ‘so-and-so against so-and-so’, and you wouldn’t like to guess that one, they’re just so hard to gauge.
“Whereas I thought results were a bit easier to predict in years gone by, in this league. I don’t think the overall standard has gone up, I just think it’s spread a bit wider.”
Poole currently sit in fifth place, with Killick keen to ensure his side stay inside of the playoffs in a bid to stay within touching distance of league leaders Hayes & Yeading.
“You can’t afford to fall too far behind, and a defeat against Swindon would have left a lot more ground to catch up,” continued Killick.
“I think against a really good side, it was a really good away performance, even if we ended up with a draw.
“So, to nick a win at the end is really good for us in terms of points. We did really need them.
“Suddenly, we’ve got a week’s break which is good, and we go into the game Saturday and we still can’t really afford to drop points.
“I really want to try and cement our position in the playoffs if we can. I think that gives you a lot of confidence, you can use that to kick on. We’ve got a little bit to go before we can do that.
“Swindon are a really good side. I know Hendon went there and drew. I think Swindon will be a little bit disappointed in how they played, especially in the first half, but they are a very good side.”
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