Ian Watson reveals final message for South Shields ahead of National League North play-off final

South Shields manager Ian Watson has revealed the final message he will deliver to his players as they look to write their names into Mariners folklore with a win against Kidderminster Harriers in Saturday’s National League North play-off final.

The Mariners will be backed by around 2,800 supporters as part of a capacity crowd at the 1st Cloud Arena after the visitors also sold out their allocation of 1,200 tickets. The prize for the victors will be a place alongside the likes of Barrow, Harrogate Town and Hartlepool United in next season’s National League and a chance to move within one promotion of a place in the EFL - but Watson has revealed he will focus on the job in hand, rather than any potential reward when they prepare to walk out on their home patch on Saturday lunchtime.

When asked what his final message to his players will be, Watson told The Gazette: “To stay focused, for sure. Don’t take your eye off the game for a second. Don’t play the occasion. We’ve talked about it already. This is not a nice day, a fun day, this is we are here to do a job and win a game of football. Then empty the tank, give everything, don’t come off the pitch and think you could have given anymore because that will hurt a lot if you feel like that.”

Belief

The Harriers will arrive at the 1st Cloud Arena looking to inflict a third consecutive defeat on the Mariners after completing a league double over Watson’s men. Goals from David Davis and Kam Kandola helped them to a 2-1 win on their previous visit to South Tyneside before Adam Murray’s side also claimed all three points on the final day of the regular season thanks to a Ryley Reynolds goal.

Watson has praised the Harriers for their performances throughout the season - but stressed his players believe they can make it third time lucky and claim a historic win that would lift them into non-league football’s elite.

He said: “We had two really close games against them. The last game of the season was slightly different in terms of what we were playing for and what they were playing for. But they’re a really good side. They’ve got really good players and really good management. They didn’t start the season great but they’ve caught unbelievably and they’re the most in-form team in the league so there is a lot that can be stacked against us.

“But we are going into the game with a belief we can do it and also that we don’t want to just make it an occasion of we got to the play-off final, well done. This is a big game for us and we want to win it and we will be doing everything we can to make sure we can put those two losses right and win what is a massive game.”

Fitness update

There was a scare for the Mariners in last weekend’s win against Buxton after forward Sonny Finch and and top goalscorer Paul Blackett appeared to pick up injuries during the game. However, Watson revealed ‘everyone is fully fit’ ahead of Saturday’s final as he assessed the options at his disposal ahead of Saturday’s final.

He said: “Everyone is fine and nobody came out of the game on Saturday with any repercussions where they can’t play on Saturday. Everyone is fully fit and we’ve had a full bill of training this week.”

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