HARROW Borough could usurp Wealdstone's quest for a play-off place and boost their own slender hopes of making them if they win the Easter Monday derby.
That is the view of Harrow manager David Howell who has led his side to successive 3-2 wins in the Ryman Premier, stretching their unbeaten league run to eight matches in the process.
And while Borough were last night (Wednesday) set to take on Tilbury in the League Cup final at Staines, there is a growing belief in the camp that they could make a late surge to gatecrash the play-offs.
“These next seven days will shape where we finish in the league,” said Howell. “We're on course for our aim of a top 10 finish but the squad will be stretched like it has never been stretched before. After the final we travel to Ramsgate on Saturday then host Wealdstone. And if we win those games we will be four points behind Wealdstone with two games in hand, depending on other results. It's all there to play for.
“I'm not counting out the play-offs just as I'm not saying we're 100 per cent safe. If we do our job then we will be there or thereabouts.”
Howell is concerned his side could face a wounded animal in Ramsgate on Saturday. Last weekend's 2-1 reversal to Harlow Town has left them all but relegated and the Harrow manager says his side must be prepared for every eventuality.
“It could go both ways – they could go out there without pressure and express themselves or they could suffer because of a broken feeling around the club. One thing I do know is that they will give us a physical, in-your-face encounter.”
It is a similar story for Harrow's home derby with the Stones. Out to avenge their 6-0 Christmas stuffing at Grosvenor Vale Howell says his team will be made of sterner stuff this time around.
“That result was hard to take because of the manner in which we lost, we just didn't perform,” he added. “The players are a lot wiser for it now and if they didn't know what a local derby meant to both sets of supporters then, they do now.”
