BANBURY United manager Mike Ford says there will be no knee-jerk reaction to his side’s narrow defeat to Tamworth in tomorrow’s clash with Coalville Town.

A goal three minutes from time denied the Puritans a deserved point against the BetVictor Southern League Premier Division Central leaders last weekend.

But Ford was happy with the display and will not make major changes at their fellow high-fliers.

He said: “My focus is all about the performance. You can very easily have a knee-jerk reaction to a loss by changing loads, but we don’t need to.

“We were good on Saturday – we might just need to tweak the tactics, but not a lot else.”

Ford names an unchanged squad for the trip to Coalville and is delighted with Banbury’s position in the table.

“Over the course of the season we won’t be assessed on results against the top teams,” he said.

“But who you come up against sides below you, those are the games you perhaps should be winning.

“Our league position is nice, and the points accumulated so far sets us up well for the second half of the season.”

In Division 1 Central, Thame United boss Mark West says his team will keep their feet firmly on the ground, despite last weekend’s 2-0 win at leaders Corby Town.

The result was one of Thame’s best in the Southern League, despite having Ben Sturgess sent off, with keeper Craig Hill saving two penalties.

West, whose side host Kempston Rovers tomorrow, said: “It will be a really tough game. They are fighting for every point.

“Sometimes when we play teams that are below us, we can take our eye off the ball, so we need to ensure we don’t rest on our laurels.”

Noah Alabi has re-joined North Leigh, while Sturgess is suspended following last weekend’s red card.

North Leigh bounced back from last weekend’s 3-0 derby defeat at Kidlington with a 1-0 win over Welwyn Garden City on Tuesday, when Alabi scored the winner.

The Millers host Bedworth United with manager Craig Dore calling for consistency.

He said: “We were as bad as bad could be at Kidlington on Saturday – they absolutely battered us and deserved their win.

“But the way we bounced back on Tuesday was really pleasing. We showed good fighting spirit and battled hard for the points.

He added: “Apart from the top two, this is a league where anyone can beat anyone, and so our target of the top ten is still realistic.”

Didcot Town are again without Josh Pin for their home clash with Welwyn Garden City after the midfielder suffered a recurrence of a troublesome hip injury.

George Gilmore serves a one-match ban, but otherwise the Railwaymen boast a full-strength side.

“We’ve had three wins in the last four, but we mustn’t take our foot off the gas,” said boss Jamie Heapy.

Three league wins in a row have propelled Kidlington up to 14th ahead of their trip to Bedford Town, while Wantage Town, still pointless, visit Barton Rovers.

TOMORROW’S LINE-UPS

Banbury Utd (v Coalville Tn, away): from Harding, C Roberts, Odhiambo, Westbrook, Hawtin, Rasulo, Haysham, Dias, Mills, Isaac, M Roberts, Ahmed, Fasanmade, Johnson, Awadh.

Thame Utd (v Kempston Rovers, home): from Hill, Lynn, Mapley, Hackett, Essex, Ashworth, West, Murray, Evans, Simms, Harris, Blake, Tony-Green, Peake-Pijnen, Balogun.

North Leigh (v Bedworth Utd, home): from Lapworth, Ngathe, Gunn, Learoyd, McSkelly, Grant, M Williams, Woodley, L Williams, McNish, Seacole, Gillett, Alexis, Landers, Alabi.

Didcot Tn (v Welwyn Garden City, home): from Bedwell, Thomas, Carnell, Green, Isaac, Nash, Hayden, Silva, Francis, Dark, Reid, Collins, Stanley, Bell, Humphries, Longford.

Kidlington (v Bedford Tn, away): from Lawrence, Blackstock, Castle, Martin, West, Gabbidon, Willoughby, Benjamin, A Odhiambo, E Odhiambo, Howards, Tooke, Williams, Smith, Peart, Osborne-Ricketts.

Wantage Tn (v Barton Rovers, away): from McKenzie-Lyle, Webster, Tuttle, Fry, Mutero, McGory, Broadbank, Regrugui, Singh, Martei, Broadley, Shakti, McKeon, Baker, Sykes, Shaw.