MANAGER Dave Foster has claimed his side’s mental fortitude is a primary factor in their recent resurgence after Kendal recorded their fourth consecutive victory.

Tuesday night’s win over Padiham at Parkside Road followed Saturday’s success at Prescot Cables – which made it back-to-back away scalps after an indifferent season on the road.

And while this upturn in form has come too late for a play-off charge, Foster believes solid foundations are being laid for the remainder of the campaign and beyond.

“We now have a group of players with a winning mentality and mental toughness – it’s a nice tight group which is pulling in the same direction,” he said.

“We have that bit of steel so when we’re not playing well we can be difficult to play against, we look a lot tighter and are now more difficult to score against.

“We’ve changed the personnel and in some cases put players in different positions, it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while and it seems to be paying off.

“The team is picking itself and doing the business and that strength was shown in the second-half at Prescot where we really had to dig deep.

“And against Padiham, perhaps we were a touch fortunate but maybe we’ve earned that. Teams that win things don’t always play at their best.

“It’s a results business and it’s four on the bounce now and we’re delighted with that.”

Kendal now take their winning running to top-half side Ossett Town on Saturday before going head-to-head with promotion-chasing duo Curzon Ashton and Ramsbottom United.

And while the aim is to maintain the winning streak, there remains an underlying sense of what might have been had results earlier this year matched the current trend.

“We have a really tough trip to Ossett on Saturday which won’t be easy, they will be another direct and physical side,” added Foster.

“I’ve challenged the lads and said I see no reason why we can’t be five unbeaten when Curzon come here a week later.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position and we tend to do better against sides who play a bit more football and Curzon and Ramsbottom certainly fall into that category.

“Looking back, there are lots of games we’ve been in and just not quite been able to get over the line – we’ve made mistakes and been punished.

“For the last ten games we’ve been in matches. When I think of the Wakefield and Cammell Laird matches, those were two draws which should have been wins.

“That would have been another four points and we should have got something from the Bamber Bridge fixture as well.”

Meanwhile, Danny Coid is set for a period on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury against Padiham while Mike Rushton is currently unavailable due to work commitments in Iraq.

Jamie Pattison has joined the Mintcakes from Holker Old Boys while George Mason has been called-up from the CDS under-18 squad and was an unused substitute in the same fixture.