Quakers’ play off chances have disappeared following their defeat at Chester last Saturday, leaving them eight points behind the play offs in eleventh place, but Mitchell still wants the team to finish the season well, and give everyone a boost going into the summer.
“We owe it to everyone at the club to win the last three games, and for our supporters who have been fantastic ever since Steve and I walked through the door,” he said.
“We want to finish as high up the table as possible. We’ve got 65 points now, our target is 74 points, starting with this local derby.”
Despite the failure to reach the play offs, Quakers will finish in the top half of the table regardless.
“There’s been some progression. Finishing where we are, isn’t quite what we wanted, and that’s why we want to get as many points as possible to see how far we’re short.
“We don’t want to be a middle of the table team. This is a big, big football club that’s been a Football League club, and we’re striving to get it back to its highest possible league. We want to get it back where it belongs.”
Defender Scott Barrow has recovered from the arm injury he sustained last week when a Chester player fell on him, but strikers Andrew Nelson and Ben Andreucci are both out for the season because of injury.
Defender Elliot Forbes is hoping to return to the squad after injury.
Shields have been missing several players because of injury recently, but are hoping they’ll return in time for the game. They have lost 14 away league games this season, which is the second worst record in the league. Only relegated Rushall Olympic have lost more.
“Results-wise, it’s not been going well for them. They’ve had a lot of injuries to their senior players, and they’re coming back. We’re expecting a very difficult game.”
Quakers won the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day thanks to a goal by Cedric Main, but lost their momentum after that because of the postponements against Alfreton and Chorley.
