There's so much to play for... (From Basingstoke Gazette)

There's so much to play for...

1:00pm Friday 12th March 2010 in

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FRANK Gray has warned his Basingstoke Town team that they are playing for their Camrose futures.

Town’s chances of making the Blue Square South play-offs are all but over as they trail the top five by nine points.

However, manager Gray already has one eye on next season and says the current players must impress over the final nine games if they want to stay at the club.

“We are already starting to look at things ahead of next season, in terms of what we need to change,” he said. “It is in the current players’ hands and we will be looking at what they do between now and the end of the season – so there is plenty to play for.”

One player who will certainly be looking to stake a claim for a place in next season’s squad is striker Grant Powell. The 18-year-old was handed a contract after starring for the Academy but has not been able to break into the first team.

Gray said: “I’m sure Grant will get a chance between now and the end of the season but you have to pick the right time to play kids.”

Powell is unlikely to be thrown in at the deep end on Saturday, when play-off contenders Dover visit the Camrose (kick-off 3pm).

The Kent side are eighth in the table, four points off the top five. They lost 2-0 at home to Worcester on Tuesday night but Gray is expecting a difficult afternoon.

“Dover have been strong for most of the season,” he said. “They try to play football but we’ve got assert our authority on the game and not let them settle.”

Basingstoke did well when they travelled to Dover back in October, running out 3-2 winners.

“It was one of our best performances of the season so we will be looking to emulate that on Saturday,” Gray added. “We nullified them by not letting them get many balls into the box and caused them problems on the break.”

Town go into the game without a win in four, while their home form continues to let them down. They have not won at the Camrose in eight attempts, a run that stretches back to October.

Gray said: “We have been looking to turn our home form around in every game but we cannot get too uptight about it. We just need to do the best we can and hopefully that will be good enough on Saturday.”

Injury-wise, Gray is sweating on the fitness of goalkeeper Richard Barnard, who has been suffering with a serious virus, while Matt Finlay missed last weekend’s draw with Lewes after picking up two dead legs. Top scorer David Pratt is also a slight doubt as he too is suffering with a dead leg.