Kettering Town hoping to end wait for first home game of 2026

Speaking following the match with Stourbridge, manager Liam McDonald said: “Our fans are brilliant, and have been at every game they’ve come to away from home of late, but we need to get back home, get a big crowd and take the game to Stratford on Tuesday.

“I’ve asked them to be on this journey with us. It’s going to be difficult – probably not what they were used to last season – but stick with the lads and see where the season ends.

“If we win a certain amount of home games, we’re going to give ourselves that little bit of hope. They understand we’ve got a lot to do but going to Bishop’s Stortford and winning, going to Needham [Market] and winning, going to St Ives and winning, coming here [to Stourbridge] and drawing is a good start.”

The club have invested in new pitch covers and are hopeful the Stratford game will go ahead as planned – but they are considering the possibility of a switch to an artificial surface going forward.

Chairman George Akhtar said: “The sheer volume of water this year has been incredible. We hope we’ve done the right thing, fingers crossed.

“Before I bought the club I was told there was one season when we had nine games called off – this is now seven postponements which is financially very difficult.

“There are teams in leagues above us who are playing on 4G [pitches] so who are we to turn our nose up at it? It’s definitely something we’re exploring.”