WITH an unbeaten festive period still the aim after victory over Radcliffe Borough, a buoyant Dave Foster insists a winning run can place Kendal firmly among the play-off contenders.

The Mintcakes made it three league wins on the bounce with a comprehensive demolition of their Greater Manchester visitors, putting to bed run of five defeats in six matches during November.

And with the injury situation easing all the time, Foster believes a greater pool of available players provides that much-needed competitive edge within the squad.

“I think the play-offs are still a realistic possibility,” he said. “Teams will drop points over the festive period and I don’t see any one team running away with it.

“I’m hoping November was our bad patch and now we can go on a run and any team that manages to go on a ten-match unbeaten run for instance will be in a strong position.

“That’s what we’re aiming for. Teams will slip up and it’s all about consistency for us.

“Saturday was the first time for a while I could look around at the bench and think I have players who can change a game for us and have a big impact.

“We have that competition now and the lads know they have to perform or others lads will come in and take their place.

“We haven’t had that edge for a while whereby players know they have to be on their game but it’s happening now.”

Kendal now face successive away games – Lancaster City on Boxing Day and Harrogate Railway Athletic on Saturday – before a home clash with Darlington 1883 on New Year’s Day.

Foster is of the view his side have nothing to fear from this difficult run of fixtures, believing the players at his disposal are the envy of most clubs in the league.

“We’ll be going into this run of games with plenty of confidence and these are the games when I played I looked forward to, especially a local derby.

“Lancaster City is my old club and a lot of the lads know people there so we’re really looking forward to it – we’re getting some momentum now and confidence is high.

“New Year’s Day is another juicy fixture for us with Darlington coming to Parkside Road.

“We went to their place earlier in the season, performed well and were perhaps a little unfortunate not to get something from the game.

“Harrogate is also a tough place to go, but there is nobody in the league we’re frightened of.

“I say to the players there are plenty of managers who will look at our team and say I would like him, him and him.

One player who may be attracting  more than his fair share of admiring glances is frontman Danny Mitchley, who took his tally for the season 19 with two goals against Radcliffe.

And while Foster considers the 24-year-old forward to be well on course for his pre-season goals target, he is equally pleased other players are finding the net.

“Mitch is just a goal-scoring machine and he is a huge asset to the team,” he said.

“I set him a target at the start of the season and expected him to score 30 and he looks well on course to meet that and perhaps surpass it.

“But we have goals all around the team, a few lads are starting to chip in now.

“Even Warren Beattie scored which is a bit of a collector’s item. It’s great to have him back in the fold.”