BASHLEY boss Frank Gray has warned his players to guard against complacency ahead of their basement battle with cellar-dwellers Kettering Town tomorrow (3pm).

Second-from-bottom Bash head to Northamptonshire hoping to bounce back from a humiliating 4-0 defeat to local rivals Poole Town in the FA Trophy on Tuesday.

But the crisis-hit Poppies may struggle to field a team as the former Football Conference giants’ financial woes came to a head earlier this week.

Chief scout Alan Doyle has taken charge of first-team affairs and the stand-in boss was forced to sign up a friend of one his players to fulfil Kettering’s county cup fixture in midweek.

Gray, however, insists Bash need to focus on their own form ahead of the must-win clash and told the Daily Echo: “All of that is out of our hands. We have just got to prepare ourselves. It is not really something we should be thinking about, we need to focus on what we are doing.

“Hopefully, we can bounce back from Tuesday. More often than not, when we have lost this season, we have bounced back pretty well.

“The lads are down, they are going to be. But we have had a good chat and there were plenty of positive responses on Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Gray may dip into the loan market for a last-ditch deal as he contends with the prospect of having no fit strikers.

James Stokoe (ankle) is described by Gray as 50-50 after his withdrawal from the Poole defeat, while Rob Gradwell and Mark Gamble are still crocked.

Gray added: “We are still looking and are in contact with other clubs. We will keep assessing the situation for as long as we can.”

Bash: (from) Moore, Smith, Casey, Strickland, Middleton, Richardson, Finlay, Hill, Lompato-Pires, Jenkinson, Knight, Gazzard, Vokes, Oliver, Farren, Stokoe, Kearn.