Graham Westley could not hide his delight at the way his players stepped up to the plate after Boro s convincing 3-1 win against play-off rivals Kidderminster Harriers last night. Westley s troops arguably delivered their best performance of the season

Graham Westley could not hide his delight at the way his players "stepped up to the plate" after Boro's convincing 3-1 win against play-off rivals Kidderminster Harriers last night.

Westley's troops arguably delivered their best performance of the season right when it mattered to keep their play-off destiny in their hands going into the clash at Mansfield on Sunday.

Steve Morison and Lee Boylan (two) grabbed the goals to condemn Kiddy to a morale-sapping defeat to avenge the 4-2 defeat at Aggborough earlier this month.

And Westley praised the character of his side for kicking on after Justin Richards had hauled Harriers level just before the break.

"I believe that the players are winners. When you give them the moment you have to ask whether they can step up to it? It was a tremendous performance and they really stepped up to the plate.

"At the moment, they are winning their football matches and they are showing a hunger and desire."

Tuesday marked the return of the attacking verve that has been so prevalent for much of this season with Andy Drury's comeback from injury providing another dimension to Boro going forward.

There is surely no better player technically in the Blue Square Premier and Westley hailed his contribution.

"I thought Andy Drury was our man-of-the-match. His contribution from the right-hand side was just outstanding.

"He has been out for four weeks with a hamstring injury but some of his football was just blistering.

"To have him and Mitch threatening in the wide areas gives us a lovely variation."

Boro have to match the results of either Kidderminster or Torquay at the weekend to be sure of a place in the top five - a wonderful achievement considering the grim outlook in November.

Westley insisted he has never lost faith that his side can accept an invitation to the play-off party and is looking for his men to finish the job at Field Mill.

"You have to keep believing to make sure that the players keep seeing a way through," he added.

"They have worked so hard and they haven't taken no for an answer. They have had to do amazing things to get themselves into this position and we'll have to do amazing things to get ourselves into the Football League.

"We're prepared to do it. There are players putting themselves on the line and when you've got that mentality amongst your squad it's a very healthy asset to have.