Kettering Town manager expresses importance of loanee during key run

Kettering Town have found it tough since their run to the play-off final last season, but things may be on a slow rise for the Northamptonshire side

James Clifton (right) celebrating one of Kettering's goals at the weekend with Ed Panter | 📸 Mark Hope

The hierachy at the Poppies decieded in late October to appoint former Southern Premier Central promotion winning manager Liam McDonald, whose recent job saw him help lead Stourbridge to a 9th place finish in last season's Southern Central. The former Kettering player won just one of his first five games in charge of the side, but crucially he picked up a 5-0 win against his old club Stourbridge last weekend.

One of the players who scored in that contest, James Clifton, is currently on a one month loan at the Poppies from Spalding United. New Kettering manager, McDonald spoke on the loanee and how influential he has been to the team. "He’s been brilliant since he’s come in. He was ill just after our league game against Quorn which took him a bit of time to get up and running, but Stourbridge and Halesowen he was at the levels he’s used to. He is with us until the new year and will be a key player for us in the second half of the season. He’s been a joy around the place and I’ve enjoyed working with him."

Having seen the remarkable goalscoring last 12 months Clifton has had, the Kettering loanee shared his thoughts on the past year, the reason for his loan move after a good year at Spalding, and his season so far.

"My loan to the Poppies came about purely because of the fact not many minutes was taking it's toll on my sharpness and fitness levels. I wanted to go out somewhere and gets some games and after how well my loan this time last year went i think it was the correct decision to go down the same route this time. Liam (McDonald) came into the club just before I joined, and I have really enjoyed my time here so far, and working for him.

"I have not been fully satifisfied by my season so far by any means. The start of this campaign has been a bit like the last, not starting or playing much and sufferering a bit from a lack of match fitness. I still managed 14 goals from December onwards last season in all competitions, and hope that the same will happen for me this season, starting with this loan. I just want to stay as fit as possible and have a good year of 2026.

"My aim for the rest of the campaign is to play and score as much as I can. I showed last season that I can show a good run of goalscoring form if the chances are there to find the back of the net and start reguarly.