MANAGER Tom Killick has challenged Poole Town to prove their superiority over Stourbridge and swing back the play-off pendulum in Dolphins’ favour.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Tatnam clash (3pm), fifth-placed Stour remain the only team to have trumped Killick’s men in the league this season after securing a 5-2 success Amblecote in October.

Poole’s unbeaten run in the Southern League Premier Division stretches back some 14 matches but with a massive fixture backlog on the horizon, Killick’s men find themselves 11 points shy of the Glassboys, albeit with eight games in hand.

But with the prospect of three games per week between now and the end of the season, Killick insisted the Glassboys would retain the upper hand should Poole fail to muster a maximum haul.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “You have to say Hemel look strong favourites for the title now and without ruling out the emerging teams underneath us, there will still be two teams currently challenging who will miss out on the play-offs.

“You have Chesham, St Albans, Cambridge City, Bideford, Stourbridge and ourselves so this game takes on massive significance.

“Looking at the league table, our position would look quite strong if we could win but the reverse would be the case if we failed to make up ground.

“Purely because of the gap, they are in pole position at the moment but while I believe they are one of the strongest sides in the division, our record is better over a number of games.

“We have to take confidence from that and make sure it reflects in the result.”

Dolphins: (from) Thomas, Emmerson, Spetch, Dibba, Whisken, Martin, Brooks, Devlin, Pettefer, Davies, Preston, Bennett, Cann, Chiedozie, Charles, Elliott, Hutchings.

  • Poole Town’s home league fixture against Frome Town last night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Tatnam.